Into The Shadows
by darknessfeathers
Summary: Naruto never had anyone to teach him while he was growing up, so he decided to learn on his own. It's amazing the things one can learn when they really put their mind to it. Especially when they have the potential for greatness and focus on that early.
1. Chapter 1 (Part 1)

**Hello everyone! This is my first story, so please be gentle on me. In this story, instead of Naruto focusing on getting attention in the early part of the manga and anime, he is going to be focusing on getting smarter and stronger. A better way to pass the time when all you get in the attention department is bad, no?**

**I do not own Naruto, sadly. If I did, I would be rich and have artwork with my stories!**

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Chapter 1 (Part 1)

Naruto always knew that bars were the best place to gather information; a bunch of drunken shinobi, letting their guards down since they were safe at home and surrounded by their fellow comrades. They would even let go of some highly classified information, if the ones high enough in the rankings got drunk enough. Which happened more often than it should. They did, after all, live through the Kyūbi attack and saw their friends and family slaughtered and their village easily destroyed right in front of them. Not to mention the particularly nasty missions most of them had to take after the disaster in order to bring the village back to its "former glory".

And speaking of the Kyūbi… So he was the new jinchūriki for the Kyūbi. He figured it must have been something like that, considering the way the villagers treated him. Naruto had read about bijū and jinchūriki in a book from the library, so he knew what it entailed. But why didn't feel any of the Kyūbi's chakra? He didn't even feel particularly malicious towards Konoha. Well, more than he should, considering his situation, which he was sure would be ten times worse if the Kyūbi was influencing him in any way.

Naruto figured whatever seal the Yondaime put on him must have been strong enough to completely block the Kyūbi. Which would make since, considering the Yondaime was surely his father. Naruto would have to be a dimwit not to at least think so. He was almost an exact replica of the Yondaime, and there was nobody else in the entire village that looked like they did.

What Naruto couldn't figure out was why nobody knew that he was the child of the Yondaime. Everyone knew he was an Uzumaki, so they had to have known his mother, who he knew was Kushina, being the only Uzumaki in the village when Naruto was born, since she was the previous jinchūriki of the Kyūbi. His parents were surely married, were they not? And why would nobody know he was the child of a Hokage if his parents were married? The Yondaime was famous, so the villagers and other shinobi would have known about the two of them, even if they weren't yet married, wouldn't they? It just made no sense. Were the villagers that dense that they couldn't even see the resemblance, or believe that he was the child of the Yondaime and his wife? Maybe it was because they couldn't accept that their Hokage married a jinchūriki? Perhaps they thought she had become pregnant with someone else's child? Or did they think that he was just some random Uzumaki child that was born near the village when everyone knew that the Uzumaki Clan had been eliminated? Whenever he thought about it, his head hurt. So he just stopped trying to figure it out. His parents were dead, so why bother? He knew who he was, at least.

From reading what very little was written about his mother and the Uzumaki Clan in the books in the library, he knew that all of the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi had been Uzumaki's, so it was an obvious choice to make him the next one. He was the only other Uzumaki in the village, so he wasn't bitter or angry about it. In fact, it kind of made him feel closer to his clan, knowing that he was part of its legacy, in a way.

He had been on his own since the time he could walk and talk which made him grow up quick. Taking care of himself, as well as being a jinchūriki, also forced him to be smarter, and more analytical about everything around him. He supposed that he should despise Konoha, but it was the only place he knew, and at least he had the Hokage looking out for him. But he could understand why the villagers treated him the way they did. The villagers hated him because they feared him. And people hate what they fear. But that kind of reasoning was for the weak. Naruto was determined not to let the weakness of the villagers affect him, so he made sure to avoid them as much as he could.

Sticking to the shadows, Naruto left the bar. Nobody seemed to notice, which just made him almost shake his head in shame. He was only five, for Kami's sake, and he was able to infiltrate a bar full of chūnin and jōnin. It was pathetic. Only five years after the Kyūbi attack, and they were back to being so overly confident that they weren't paying attention to their surroundings when at home. Of course, he had been training mercilessly in order to sneak around high ranking shinobi, but still. They should always be on guard, for any sort of attack or invading nin.

Naruto silently made his way through the streets of Konoha, using the shadows and making sure to avoid the hot spots for ANBU sentries, towards the Forest of Death. It had become his second home, after realizing that nobody went in there. Well, except for that strange dark-haired chick that he though he heard someone call 'Anko', but she always seemed too lost in her thoughts to notice him. Still, Naruto made sure to stay clear of the area she frequented. He also made sure to stay near the edge, where less of the forest's unfriendly inhabitants were.

Naruto sat down in his make-shift home, under a giant tree that had roots that came so far out of the ground that they created a small cave underneath. Naruto pushed some chakra through his system and looked at the seal on his stomach, finally realizing what it was for. He could tell the seal was a product of a very high level fūinjutsu, but it wasn't one that he had seen before in any of the books he had read. Naruto was just glad that the Hokage had personally taught him how to read, write, and access his chakra when he was three, so that he could start reading and learning on his own. He had already read everything in the civilian and academy student section of the library, and had started reading books from the genin, chūnin, and jōnin sections of the library.

The villagers, for the most part, would just ignore or glare at him, but if he showed even the slightest bit of intelligence, they would turn nasty. He had learned to just hide his intellect, and his interest in learning, from everyone. Due to that, all he could do was learn from books, which he had to borrow and return un-noticed, since there was nobody he could ask for help.

When he read his first book on the breakdown of seals, he had been instantly hooked. It felt like fūinjutsu was in his blood. Which, he supposed, it was. He had started off with small, introductory seals, like scroll sealings, and got the basics down almost instantly. It was only after he felt he truly understood seals that he started experimenting.

Most of his experiments ended up with the seal blowing up. But some came out unexpectedly better than he had hoped. One being the seal he had created that allowed him to use the shadows to completely hide his presence while traveling in them. It came about when Naruto had created a seal that he had thought would allow him to control another's shadow, as he had seen the Nara Clan do.

Naruto had basic knowledge on the Clans of Konoha, so he knew what their specialties and kekkei genkai were. He was annoyed at how much the villagers, and even other shinobi, relied on these clans, believing them to be unstoppable. Naruto wanted to be able to do their techniques, in his own way, to show the village that relying on a clan because of their kekkei genkai would be inane. Granted, the Uchiha and Hyūga Clans had dōjutsus which could not be copied, but the clans were still overconfident because of them, and there were weaknesses to everything. Naruto didn't know what those weaknesses yet were, but he would be sure to figure them out. He wanted to pick apart the entire system Konoha had for relying too heavily on its clans, which were thought to be all-powerful.

Naruto was on his sixth test seal when it happened. It was the first time he had mixed some of his blood in with the ink he used on the seal. He had placed the seal on the darkest part of a tree's shadow, and, using a hand seal that he had come up with specifically for use with his fūinjutsu, mixed with the rat seal that Naruto knew the Nara's used when performing this jutsu, said "Fūin: Kagemane no Jutsu*". Naruto immediately felt his body being pulled into the shadow, and his chakra blending with it. It felt so strange that he dropped his concentration, and he was thrown from the shadow after the seal exploded.

Naruto continued working with the same seal, tweaking it only slightly, until he polished it up enough for him to be satisfied, which took weeks. With anything new that he was learning, he wouldn't stop until he felt it was perfect, and he was incredibly judgmental about his work.

Finally, Naruto figured out that if he placed the seal on himself, instead of the shadow, and concentrated enough, he was able to completely blend into the shadows. Not exactly what he was going for in the beginning, but he actually felt this was a really impressive and useful technique. Not to mention a good step in the direction he was trying to go in.

After successfully staying in the shadows for three days straight, Naruto was able to decrease the amount of concentration it took to use the technique. He was just glad that he had so much chakra that he could continuously use it for the time it took to get used to the jutsu. He also tried something new by painting the seal used for shadow travel permanently on his right upper arm. It had burned like it was on fire for a few minutes, but it was definitely worth it. After that was a success, he also painted the one for sealing on his left forearm.

Once he felt that he had complete control over the jutsu, which Naruto named Ryokō no Kage*, he started using it as his constant form of travel, only wondering around the village enough without it to make sure that people still knew he was around. He was also working on refining the Ryokou no Kage to where he could make the shadow he was in larger or smaller, connecting shadows, and the one he was having the most trouble with: teleporting between distant shadows.

Naruto also began working on building his body's physical strength, speed, and stamina without the use of chakra, and on basic taijutsu. He didn't use any weight seals, though he knew how to make them, because he knew it would stunt his growth or damage his body if he used them at such a young age. Building strength, speed, and stamina was easy, but learning taijutsu from a book was pretty difficult. That was when Naruto started using his Ryokō no Kage to spy on other Konoha nin. From doing that, he was able to see the many different taijutsu styles that the clans and other shinobi used.

Naruto tried doing all of them, finding a style of his own, after incorporating elements from each of the styles he saw. He also started working on his bukijutsu, using all forms of weapons, but mainly focusing on the dual blades that he had lifted from a weapon shop's garbage. The blades were once two full swords that had broken. Naruto had taken them home, leveled them to the same length, and sharpened them. They were his favorite possessions.

After training in bukijutsu for a few hours, then switching straight to taijutsu after, Naruto slowly began mixing the two, which actually worked better with the dual blades for the type of taijutsu he was trying to refine. He began a schedule of working on bukijutsu, moving into kenjutsu, then finishing with taijutsu, getting his body used to doing one on its own, and being able to fluidly go between the others.

Only after he felt that he was proficient enough with his fūinjutsu, bukijutsu, kenjutsu, and taijutsu did he start working on ninjutsu. He felt that a lot of shinobi relied too heavily on their ninjutsu, which was a mistake, in his opinion. The Uchiha Clan could copy any ninjutsu with their Sharingan, and be able to block it. Some sensor-type shinobi could sense what kind of ninjutsu one was going to use and any prolific fūin user could put a chakra suppressing seal on someone. Naruto was determined not to be caught off-guard or vulnerable. He thought up every kind of possible situation where he couldn't do one or more type of a jutsu and made sure that he had backup plans and safeguards.

Naruto didn't jump straight into performing and learning ninjutsu in the beginning. He first studied the introduction to chakra books. He learned how it works, what it does to and in the body, and about his chakra coils and points. Naruto was a firm believer in knowledge being power. If he knew the very basics about something, he could build from that, making the jutsu easier to do and stronger in the long run, instead of diving head first into a jutsu, and not really knowing what he was doing. That was how people blew themselves up or spent careless numbers of hours and chakra trying to figure something out when it had such a simpler answer if one began from the very beginning.

With that in mind, Naruto's first point of focus was chakra control. He started out with the basic, keeping a leaf attached to his body with chakra, and then learned how to walk up trees and on water. He even taught himself to do some medical ninjutsu, after reading some anatomy books, just to make sure his control was perfect. Gaining full chakra control took a lot more time than he thought, almost two months, but he figured it must have been because he had such large chakra reserves.

Once he felt he had full chakra control, he decided to try and learn some low level jutsu using all the major nature manipulations. He thought that would be the best way to learn his affinity, and also try building affinities towards other natures. He had read that full nature manipulation was so rare that the Sandaime was only known person able to do it, but Naruto was determined to have them all the same, since his goal was to one day surpass the Hokage in power.

Naruto didn't notice any real difference when using D rank ninjutsu of varying nature manipulations. It was when he tried using some C ranked one from a book that he swiped from a jōnin that it became apparent. Wind techniques seemed to take the least amount of chakra for him to do, while earth took the most. Since Naruto figured wind must be his affinity, he decided to work on the natures he did not have an affinity with first.

As was Naruto's custom, he first read about how to mold his chakra into each element, and what kind of reactions could occur when doing so. He also made sure to read books on physics and biology, so that he could understand the very makeup of nature. Those books looked barely touched, much to his disappointment. If shinobi were going to use nature manipulation and transformations, they should understand what they were working with.

By the time Naruto was nine, he had himself a healthy repertoire of B and C ranked jutsu of varying nature manipulations. He decided not to learn any more until he perfected his favorites, and was able to do them with very little, or no hand seals. He felt that he needed to get his body and chakra more accustomed to the natures before going into the higher ranking ninjutsu.

It was then that the Hokage suggested to Naruto, via letter, that he would like him to attend the Academy. The Hokage wrote that he felt bad about Naruto being on his own all the time, and that he should be around children his own age. The Hokage's real reason for enrolling Naruto into the Academy, however, was because he was worried about how Naruto was able to just disappear and reappear whenever he felt like it. Even his crystal ball would not be able to find him. He knew that the villagers were much less than warm towards the boy, and he hoped that Naruto wasn't planning anything, or getting involved with anything dangerous. He thought that making some friends his age would discourage the boy from hating the village and turning into a potential threat. He made sure to tell Naruto the day before classes started, just in case he was indeed planning something. The Sandaime liked the boy, and felt responsible for him, but he was the Hokage first and foremost, so the village's safety came first.

Naruto did not want to go, since he knew everything that the Academy could teach him already, and his skills far surpassed Academy-level anything. He knew that he could not refuse though, because there was definitely an underlying order in there for him to attend, not that it was just a suggestion, like the letter read.

Naruto did not want to waste his time, or ruin his rigorous training schedule by going to classes, so he decided he wanted to try something new. He used Ryokō no Kage to get to the river that flowed through the Forest of Death and began creating one of the most difficult seals he had ever done. He had to make it right the first time he executed it, because it would take most of his chakra to do this, and he didn't have time to experiment and recharge his chakra to retry like he usually did.

It took Naruto twelve different tries on writing up the seal before he felt confident that it was the best he could do. He chopped off a large log from one of the trees in the area and placed his seal on top. He then cut his hand, putting some extra blood on the log, since Naruto had started mixing his blood in the ink for all of his seals to make the seals stronger and gave him more control when using them. He then took a large amount of mud and covered the log in it and put one hand over the seal, while the other did a half ram seal, and, pushing almost all of his chakra into the seal, said "Fūin: Kyūkyoku Bunshin no Jutsu*".

Naruto had noticed that there were clones for each of the different nature manipulations, but he had figured that a wood clone would be able to take more hits before it dispelled, since wood was so sturdy. He thought that mixing two natures would also make the clone even sturdier, and, after thinking it through, decided that mud would be the best. Plus, the two nature manipulation mixed with the seal should make anything less than a killing blow dispel it. The seal was also meant to lower the amount of chakra the clone was able to use, so that it didn't run out.

He would have spent more time perfecting and practicing creating the clone while going to class, and then switch with it, but he didn't want to chance it. Naruto knew that there was no way to completely replicate his full personality into the clone, so going for a few days, then sending in a clone that seemed like a different person would definitely catch attention. Also, if there were any Hyūga's in the class, the clone would be able to fool them if they didn't study him to hard, but he was sure they would notice something different with his chakra coils and points if him and the clone switched places. The same if there was anyone from the Inuzuka Clan. It was not so uncommon for someone to have a scent of wood when in Konoha, and for a kid to smell like mud. They would probably just think that he had been playing outside a lot. But the original's scent would not have such a distinct wood and mud smell. If there was someone from the Aburame Clan, their insects would be able to smell the difference, as well. So the only choice he had was to send the clone in his place from the very beginning.

He looked over the clone carefully, after it was formed, using the last of his energy to make sure everything looked alright.

"You are to go to the Academy in my place and act as though you are the real Naruto. Stay in the village and only come to me when you have important information, if there is an emergency, or if you graduate, which is your goal. I have given you enough chakra that it should hold you for a few years if you use it sparingly. I want you to make sure people believe that you are not very smart or strong, and try to stay out of the way of the villagers. Understood?" Naruto told the clone.

"Yosh! Dattebayo!" Naruto-clone yelled, bouncing on his feet and looking as though he hadn't been listening, before running off towards the village. 'I think I messed up' Naruto thought before losing consciousness.

Naruto knew that he could not return to the village while his clone was there, lest he gave himself away, and that would cause him to have a lot of questions thrown at him. Maybe more than that, if they thought he was a threat. He had, after all, been spying on his fellow Konoha nin, and that just looked bad on him if they found out, beside the fact that he would "borrow" books from other shinobi without them knowing about it. So after he woke up, he made his way back to his now permanent home under his tree in the Forest of Death. He had already gotten used to hunting and gathering for food there, so he knew that he could comfortably live there and not need to go into town to buy anything.

Now that Naruto no longer had to go into town, he could finally test out the Kyūbi's seal. He hadn't touched it yet, afraid of what might happen. He felt that he knew enough about seals that he wouldn't inadvertently release the bijū, but he didn't know what kind of change him or his chakra would undergo if introduced to the Kyūbi's.

He had tried all he could to find anything about his seal, but he hadn't been able to find anything like it in all the books he read, or the information he got from others, so he thought that testing it out directly was the only option.

From what he could tell of the seal, there were layers to it. Naruto figured if he could just release the first layer, that should be enough for him to access the Kyūbi, but not affect him too much. He had read and heard about the Gogyō Fūin* and its corresponding Gogyō Kaiin*, but it was only brushed upon in the books, and who he had heard it from wasn't an expert with it. From what he could decipher, he thought he could try out the Gogyō Kaiin, and see if it did anything. He would only use a little chakra, to be sure that if it did work, he didn't unlock too much of the seal.

Naruto focused a small amount of chakra onto his fingertips, took a deep breath, and quickly pressed his fingers onto the seal with his fingers spread so that they touched some of the outer layers. The pain in his body the moment he did it was so intense that it caused him to black out.

Naruto awoke to find himself laying on his back in what looked like a sewer with pipes on the ceiling and walls. There was about five inches of water churning around him violently, and it seemed like the walls and pipes were pulsing uncontrollably. Without moving, he did a quick scan of his surroundings, but didn't see anything else. He couldn't feel the water soaking him, but he could feel the tremendous amount of malicious chakra around him which was originating from the end of the hallway. Naruto got up slowly and started making his way towards where he felt the Kyūbi.

Naruto was surprised at his mind's natural defense. The only thing here was the Kyūbi. He wondered if that was an Uzumaki Clan trait, or if it was just something that all jinchūriki had, as a way of making sure that nobody could control him, and thus the bijū inside. Perhaps it was part of the seal that kept the Kyūbi in check. Either way, he had to make some sort of defense for the Kyūbi as well. It wouldn't be good if someone could just waltz into his mind and easily get to the Kyūbi, even if Naruto himself wouldn't be affected.

At the end of the tunnel was a cavernous room housing a cage with gates that went from the ceiling to the floor. About halfway up the gates, Naruto saw the seal used to contain the Kyūbi within. Naruto slowly approached the gates, and, while waiting for the Kyūbi to approach him, studied the seal.

After a considerable pause, Naruto felt the very air in the room shift, and heard the Kyūbi moving. Naruto could feel the power rolling off the bijū in waves. He had never felt power so strong. Naruto was almost choking on the amount of malicious chakra coming from the cage, and before the Kyūbi was able to finally lay eyes on his container, Naruto did the only thing he felt right doing when meeting with such a powerful being: he kneeled with one knee on the ground, placing the fist of the same side next to it, and his other hand on the knee bent pointing upwards, head down in the traditional pose that shinobi gave to their commanding officer.

It took the Kyūbi a minute before he could say anything. Truthfully, he was surprised. No human, especially his jinchūriki had ever kneeled before him. They usually just barged into his space, demanding power, or they would just leave him alone completely. The Kyūbi started getting excited, though he did not show it.

'Perhaps this one can be used. I still cannot control him, due to this damnable seal, but I may be able to coerce him into removing it enough for me to take over.'

"I see that you recognize true power, human." The Kyūbi said, looking down at Naruto. "What has brought you to me before the pre-arranged time within this seal?" The Kyūbi knew what the seal was meant for. It had already started adding very nominal amounts of his chakra into the boy's pathways, but only enough for his body to get used to it. There was still supposed to be years before the seal released its first layer.

"I wish to make a partnership, of sorts." Naruto said, still from his kneeling position. He knew that the Kyūbi would not be happy with his request, but he was going to try and do this the best way he could, in order to be on good terms with the bijū.

"I do not _partner _with humans." The Kyūbi growled angrily. The human was not displaying any signs of fear, and the Kyūbi had to decide if he should try and scare the human into obedience, or if it would give it willingly. The Kyūbi could not tell what was in this human child's mind. It both annoyed, and fascinated him. He had never met a human he could not read, and this one before him was quite the enigma.

"I said 'of sorts'." Naruto replied. "I know from studying the seal that the layers are meant to be released at certain points, and this will allow your chakra to start flowing through me."

"It already has." The Kyūbi interrupted.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for that, but I did not know any other way to speak with you without removing that first layer." Naruto said, with true remorse. The Kyūbi narrowed his eyes at his container, but did not speak, wishing the human to get to the point.

"I did not wish to simply take your chakra from you; again, my apologies that it is already happening. I first wanted to ask you for your chakra. I feel that everyone should become strong using their own power, and not someone else's, but seeing as how we really have no choice in the matter, being who we are, I see no other option, unfortunately."

"You are asking to use my chakra." The Kyūbi said, more than asked. Yes, this human was certainly the most confusing that he had ever come across.

"Yes." Naruto said simply. The Kyūbi looked up, at the area he knew the seal was at. It was not as if he could say no, and his chakra would stay with him. The human was going to get his chakra anyways, whether the Kyūbi wanted it or not.

"Very well." The Kyūbi said, beginning to turn back into the darkness of the cage.

"Also," Naruto stated, for the first time sounding hesitant, which made the Kyūbi turn back to him, curious, "I was wondering if you would be willing to share some of your knowledge with me? I have no family or sensei to teach me anything, and although I feel I have been able to come far, considering my situation, I believe that knowledge is the truest and most dangerous kind of power, and I can only get so far with the books in the library." Now the Kyūbi was really intrigued. Most humans didn't find knowledge to mean much of anything, which was misguided on their part. It seemed like this human child recognized the power that knowledge could bring.

"Why do you thirst for knowledge?" The Kyūbi asked.

"I wish to bring about change." Naruto simply said.

"Continue." The Kyūbi said, narrowing his eyes in annoyance.

"The way the village is now is deficient. The villagers are stupid and lazy, believing they are safe, when at any moment they could be whipped out. The shinobi here have gotten arrogant, believing they can handle anything that could happen, when it has already been proven, by you, that they cannot. They rely heavily on the clans that reside within these walls, whom they seem to believe are omnipotent. Even the clans think that way about themselves. I want to show the village their miscalculation. I want them to know that they are not as powerful as they believe. I want to show them true power, so they will absolutely understand it." Naruto finished, with slight anger and bitterness in his voice.

Oh yes, the Kyūbi was definitely happy with his new container. He wondered if the human could hear the beginnings of insanity in his own voice. All of the things the human child listed were things that the Kyūbi himself felt. He briefly wondered if he had already been influencing the child through the seal, but disregarded the thought. The seal was unfortunately full-proof against that. This container was definitely going to work for him. If the child wasn't still kneeling in front of him, the Kyūbi would have laughed at his luck.

"I allow you to use my chakra as you see fit. It is your responsibility to access it and control it. It will not be my fault, nor will I help, if you go too far with it. As for the knowledge, I will offer it when, and if, I feel like doing so." The Kyūbi said, returning to the darkness of the cage.

"Thank you." Naruto said, finally standing up after he could no longer hear the Kyūbi moving.

Naruto was unsure of how to return to his body, so he decided to do a chakra pulse, in hopes that it would jolt him awake, which it certainly did. The moment he returned to his body, he regretted it. It felt as though hundreds of shards of glass were shredding up his body from the inside. The pain was so immense that he couldn't move and tears starting flowing from his eyes. It truly felt like he was dying. Naruto now realized why the seal was set up the way it was.

The first layer was meant to loosen once his chakra coils had finished developing, and he had unsealed it before then. He knew the only thing he could do was try his best not to fight the invading chakra of the Kyūbi. If he did, it would take a lot longer for his coils to get used to it. He just hoped he would actually live through it.

It took half an hour of excruciating pain before Naruto was able to move again. It took another day and a half until the pain had completely receded. It was only then that he attempted to access his chakra. His body felt as if it was burning for a few minutes, but the longer Naruto drew upon the chakra, the more his body got used to it. Once the burning feeling had gone away, Naruto decided to try out how much the Kyūbi's chakra interfered with his control by trying the simple leaf test.

The second Naruto tried to push the small amount of chakra required into the palm of his hand to make the leaf stick there, the leaf blew up in a fiery explosion that left Naruto's hand with third degree burns, which began healing almost immediately.

'Well, shit,' Naruto thought angrily, 'I have to start all over again!' A sudden surge of rage made him take his frustration out on a fūin enhanced dummy he had created, until he felt calm and clear headed again. 'And my emotions are affected too. Just great. Best start from the beginning. _Again._' Naruto began collecting a pile of leaves, and, as an afterthought, put on some shinobi grade fingerless gloves. 'Better safe than burned.'

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**There is the first part of my story. Let me know what you think. And yes, Naruto's personality is much more different in my story than the original. Looking at it psychologically, I believe his mind was stunted from not having affection during the early developmental times of a baby's life, which caused him to crave attention in the manga and anime, but lower his intelligence. Which would make sense, because once he started getting positive attention, he started getting smarter and stronger. ****In my story, however, he instead focuses on getting smarter and stronger, and avoids getting attention. **

**Jutsu Used:**

**Fūin: Kagemane no Jutsu (Seal: Shadow Imitation Technique) - **This is Naruto's version of the Nara Clan's signature jutsu. He attempts to recreate the Shadow Imitation Technique using a seal.

**Ryokō no Kage (Shadow of Travel) - **With the use of a seal, allows the user to travel between nearby shadows while suppressing their chakra signature. A-Rank, Supplementary, Short-Range.

**F****ūin: Ky********ūkyoku Bunshin no Jutsu (Seal: Ultimate Clone Technique) -** With the use of a seal, the user mixes two types of nature manipulations to create an advanced, self-sustaining clone. Clone is only dispelled by user or if hit with a killing blow. Amount of chakra available to clone is equal to the amount given during creation. B-Rank, Supplementary.

**Gogyō Fūin (Five Elements Seal) - **A powerful technique that blocks or disturbs the chakra flow of the target. A-Rank, Supplementary, Short-Range.

**Gogyō Kaiin (Five Elements Unseal) - **Direct counterpart to the Five Elements Seal, this technique removes a fūinjutsu of equal power. A-Rank, Supplementary, Short-Range.


	2. Chapter 1 (Part 2)

**Here is the next chapter! This chapter catches up to the first chapter/episode of the series. For a little while it will follow along with the story, with slight differences, but it will deviate later.**

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Chapter 1 (Part 2)

It had taken Naruto 3 years to finally get full control of his chakra again. He had also loosened the seal three times, and felt that going any further would cause him to lose control of himself. As it was, the third time he loosened it, the Kyūbi had actually taken over for a brief moment. It took all of Naruto's willpower to overcome the Kyūbi, but now he could handle up to 5 tails. He constantly had to hold back the malicious chakra and killing intent that would roll off him, and also control his emotions, which had become more volatile.

Naruto had to re-learn his chakra control every time that he loosened the seal, but felt that if he were to do it again, it would only take a short time for him to regain control. He had finally realized why releasing a layer of the seal messed up his chakra control. Naruto's chakra before infusing with the Kyūbi's was only slightly unstable, since his coils were still developing, whereas the Kyūbi's would ebb and flow through his system. Sometimes there would be a large burst of it, and sometimes it would be just a small amount more than his own. Naruto had finally gotten his coils to stop pulsating the Kyūbi's chakra, and now had fully developed larger coils that kept a consistent amount of his chakra flowing through them that had started to fuse with the Kyūbi's.

During that time, Naruto had also perfected his own method of taijutsu and kenjutsu. He had also advanced to where he could use the few ninjutsu he favored with only one hand seal. Working on his genjutsu had been the hardest. You could know the breakdown of genjutsu, but without a proper sensei to teach you how to do it, it was impossible to do. Oddly enough, that was where the Kyūbi stepped in and started instructing him and giving his some pointers, not to mention incredibly violent and gory ideas.

Since releasing the seal the second time, Naruto and the Kyūbi were able to converse with each other telepathically, which was more of a blessing than a burden, as Naruto found out in this case. The Kyūbi had started out calling him names and yelling at him when Naruto had first started trying his genjutsu out on a clone. After the botched genjutsu attempt, the Kyūbi had started actively including himself in all of Naruto's training; even going so far as to actually _give _him some jutsu. With the help of Kyūbi's chakra running through him, Naruto was also able to master fire nature manipulation.

Naruto was in the middle of learning Kanton: Hinoiki*, which was a modified version of one of Kyūbi's own attacks that the Kyūbi was teaching him, when he felt his clone approaching quickly. He had to immediately cut off the jutsu, lest his clone run straight into the fire.

'Kami, I really did screw this one up.' Naruto thought. First, his clone almost runs straight into its own death, or, well, dispelment, then when he stops in front of the original, he was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and ridiculous looking goggles on his head. Naruto didn't even know they sold anything like that in Konoha. Of course, he wouldn't have been able to buy it either way. All of the things Naruto owned were taken from garbage cans and fixed up, except for his ink, which he made himself. Naruto wondered how his clone could have gotten from the moss green short-sleeved shirt, black shinobi pants, and black sandals that he was created in (that matched the original's clothing) to…that. His thoughts on his clone's appearance left his mind when he saw the look of utter excitement in his clone's eyes.

"Mizuki-sensei is so awesome! You won't believe what he told me! I never would have thought, you know, since Iruka-sensei is usually the only one that pays attention to me, but that's-" The clone began, talking quickly and animatedly, with his hands flying and feet bouncing when Naruto cut him off, rubbing his head.

"What are you here for? I told you to only come here if there was an emergency or when you graduate."

"That's what I'm saying, dattebayo!" The clone said loudly. "This is my chance to graduate! I could never create a clone, which was what we needed to pass, so Mizuki-sensei said that he knew a way that I could graduate besides that! He said if I take the Scroll of Sealing from Jiji's house and learn something from it, I could graduate!" Naruto contemplated destroying his clone for its stupidity. Obviously this 'Mizuki-sensei' was trying to get his clone to steal the scroll from the Hokage's home so that he could take it from his idiotic clone scot-free. He assumed that this 'Jiji' was the Hokage, since his home was the only place the scroll would be. But then he thought more about it. This could actually be good. If he were to get his hands on that scroll, he could learn some really powerful jutsu. And it would be simple to set up this Mizuki, if he was as stupid as he sounded.

"Do you think that you could get this scroll from the Hokage?" Naruto asked his clone.

"Of course, dattebayo! I know his weakness." The clone said with a fist pump. Naruto doubted his clone actually knew the Hokage's weakness, but the clone was still a part of himself, if only slightly, and thus, should have enough skill to at least get a scroll. Especially if this Mizuki had already subdued the guards, which he was sure to have done in order to let Naruto's clone get to the Hokage's home uninterrupted.

"Alright, quickly go and get it, then find a hidden spot to look it over. I will be there when you get back." Naruto told his clone. The clone was as simple as he thought. It didn't even wonder how the original was going to know where it was coming back to. Before the clone could run off, Naruto used Ryokō no Kage to enter his clone's shadow, following him to the Hokage's residence.

As Naruto had thought, all of the guards were laying around outside, though he doubted his clone noticed, since it climbed through a window on the top floor. He could still smell the lingering scent of a poison in the air, which meant that it was just recently used. He recognized it as a non-lethal one, luckily for the perpetrator. Killing the guards of the Hokage's home would get him caught immediately. The suits they wear have a seal on them that is directly connected to their heartbeat. Once their heart stops beating, a red alert is sounded to all high level shinobi, all of whom would surround the residence within seconds. So the traitor Mizuki wasn't as dim as his clone, at least.

Naruto was curious to see how his clone was going to subdue the Hokage. The second his clone opened the door from the room they entered into to the hallway, he actually held his breath in anticipation. Overpowering the Hokage was out of the question. The only thing his clone could do was somehow distract the Hokage. Using the knocked out shinobi outside would be the best option, but they would have to move fast if they did that. The Hokage might even set off the alarm before the clone could finish speaking, which would make it impossible to get the scroll. That's why Naruto was there. If his clone could get the Hokage out of the house, or even just further away from where it was, but could not make it to the room that house the scroll, Naruto could use the shadows to get into the room and get it himself. He hoped there would be enough confusion that he would be able to escape with it unimpeded.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" The Sandaime asked with confusion on his face when he saw the clone in the hallway.

"Uh, um... Oiroke no Jutsu*!" Naruto could almost feel the heat on his face. That was the most humiliating thing he had ever seen. His clone actually transformed into a naked woman. Not only that, it actually knocked the Hokage out from a nose bleed. He couldn't believe that worked. Nor could he believe that his clone would do something as horrendous as transforming itself into a woman. He hoped that was the first time his clone had used that technique or that nobody else had seen it do it.

The Naruto-clone then made its way to the room the traitor had told him about. Once in, Naruto moved from his clone's shadow into the shadows of the room, looking around. He saw a couple of smaller scrolls that immediately caught his attention, since one had the Uzumaki Clan symbol on it, and another his name, so he took those, replacing them with blank scrolls from his seal. He would find a way to replace them later, after he had either copied or memorized what was in them. He placed the scrolls in the seal on his arm, and jumped back into his clone's shadow, just as it was leaving the room with the Scroll of Sealing on its back.

Once in the safety of a forest in one of the training grounds, Naruto left his clone's shadow, appearing in front of it.

'Let's see what we have here.' He thought to himself, taking the scroll from the clone's back.

"Yosh! I did it, dattebayo! I bested Jiji! I am on my way to taking his place!" His clone yelled, dancing around the small clearing. Naruto was too busy studying the jutsu in the scroll to hear what his clone had said. He quickly looked over everything there was in the scroll. All that it said about any of the jutsu in there was how to do the technique and the risks. It didn't say much about what they did, just giving the basic use for it. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and focused on the first one: the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu*. It was surprisingly easy to do, but he supposed it was because he had been making clones for years, and this one wasn't too different. It just took more chakra and a different hand seal.

Once he was able to create hundreds of clones easily, he dispelled all but eight clones. He had each of the remaining clones copy down a jutsu from the scroll while he read the next one after the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, which was the Chakura no Nawa*. It allowed the user to form its chakra into a rope that is unable to be cut. Naruto couldn't understand why this was forbidden, but he guessed that maybe it was because perfect chakra control was needed and it could cause death from chakra depletion if not done properly. While his clones were copying down their jutsu, and his original clone was still dancing around and singing some absurd song that Naruto was ignoring, he got down to learning how to mold his chakra out of his body and into the form of a rope.

It wasn't long before Naruto sensed a chakra signature coming their way. Naruto melted into the shadows while his clones were just finishing their copies. Once the clones had finished, they gave the copies they made to Naruto, while his original clone closed up the scroll and put it on his back, and then dispelled. The second they did, Naruto understood why they were forbidden, besides needing large amounts of chakra. All the information his clones had copied was now in his head. He didn't even need the copies anymore.

'Oh, this is definitely useful.' Naruto thought to himself, elated that things had worked so well in his favor. Perhaps his defective clone wasn't as inadequate as he had initially thought. Ideas for the uses of the Kage Bunshin starting bombarding his mind, even as he watched the pursuer reach his clone.

"Naruto!" The pursuer yelled at his clone. Even though they were not going after him, Naruto tensed, ready for battle.

"Iruka-sensei! I did it! I learned a technique from the scroll! So do I pass? Am I a genin now?" The Naruto-clone asked the dark-skinned man with the scar across his nose that had jumped into the clearing. 'So this is not the traitor.' Naruto thought to himself. 'The second one I feel nearing must be the one then.'

"What do you mean? Who told you that?" Iruka asked the clone.

"Mizuki-sensei! He said that if I learned a technique from the scroll, then I would pass!"

"Did I say that? I don't remember what I said. Either way, you served your purpose. Now hand over the scroll!" Mizuki said, jumping out of the brush. Naruto made sure to get a good look at the traitor, and continued focusing on him, instead of his clone and the other shinobi, for any sign of attack. It would seem that neither of the two shinobi could sense him, so Naruto determined that they must not be any higher than jōnin. They were most likely chūnin, though, since neither of them immediately went to attack, and instead started talking. Only chūnin and genin would stand around chatting during such a time. Jōnin and ANBU would attack first, ask later.

"Mizuki-san? I don't understand. What's going on?" Iruka asked, watching as Mizuki landed on a branch in the tree above him and the clone.

"Naruto, I would like that scroll now." Mizuki said, ignoring Iruka's question. The Naruto-clone looked between its two senseis, confusion written on his face. Iruka seemed to get what was going on and turned to the clone.

"Don't give him that scroll Naruto! Run! NOW!" Iruka ordered the clone. The clone still looked confused, but started to turn, in preparation to run.

"I wouldn't if I were you. They'll just think that you tried to run away with it." Mizuki told him with glee.

"I'll tell them the truth! I'll tell them it was you that told me to steal it!" His clone yelled back, pointing at the man. Naruto rolled his eyes. Just when he thought his clone wasn't completely useless, it goes and spews something so stupid from its mouth.

"They'll never believe you. They'll believe _me_, when I say that _you_ did it. And you want to know _why_?" Mizuki asked mockingly.

'This is getting ridiculous. Just fight already!' Naruto thought. This has got to be the second most absurd thing he had seen, right behind that abominable jutsu his clone had used earlier.

"No! Don't!" Iruka yelled. The Naruto-clone was still looking between them with that stupid confused face. Naruto wanted to slap that stupid look off the face that resembled his.

"It's because you're a _demon_!" Mizuki yelled with mirth. "What do you think happened to the Kyūbi to stop it the day that it attacked? Why do you think your birthday is the same day that it disappeared? Why do you think that _EVERYONE HATES YOU_?" Naruto actually flinched at that one. It might be true, but that was just rude. He didn't go around telling that guy that he was an insane moron whose plans were horribly asinine. Course, Naruto had never even really met the man, but still. The point was there. He was glad for the horrified look on his clone's face. After all, he was not supposed to know about the Kyūbi being sealed inside of him, it being such a "Big Secret".

"That's not true! Naruto, you are not a demon! Don't listen to him!" Naruto had to appreciate Iruka-san's intention. It seemed like the man truly cared for his clone and did not want to see it hurt.

"Oh yes it is. Even Iruka here hates you. You were the reason his parents died, after all." Mizuki said, feeling as though he had put the final nail in the coffin. While Iruka and the Naruto-clone had looks of astonishment on their face, and Iruka was starting to turn to the clone, Mizuki threw his fūma shuriken that was on his back at the Naruto-clone. Iruka quickly covered the clone with his body, and before the shuriken reached his clone, now being covered by Iruka, Naruto sent out his chakra rope, making it as thin as possible in order to not be seen, through the center of the weapon, causing it to slow down, so that it didn't go into Iruka's back too far. Though Naruto was a safe distance from the three, he could still hear what Iruka said to his clone.

"I don't hate you Naruto. It was not you who killed my parents. It was the Kyūbi, not you. You are Uzumaki Naruto." He said. 'Touching.' Naruto thought sarcastically. His clone looked up at Iruka, who was smiling down at him. As tears began to form in the clones eyes, he jumped out from under Iruka and ran off.

'Oh good Kami-' Naruto thought, immediately taking off after his now crying clone. He was most certainly dispelling that thing when he had the chance. Once he was close enough, he shot his hand out of the shadow, grabbing onto the ankle of his clone, which caused it to face plant onto the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto whispered to his clone.

"I'm leading Mizuki-sensei away from Iruka-sensei! I don't want him getting hurt anymore!" The clone said, sniffling.

"That's very nice, and all. But you are aware that for the traitor's plan to work, he has to kill your Iruka-sensei, right?" Naruto said slowly, so that his clone would understand. It seemed that the clone did, because his eyes got large, and he wiped away the tears, looking around the forest.

"They're coming, don't worry. Just be quiet, and wait for the right time." Naruto told his clone, melting back into the shadows. And just as he disappeared into the shadows, what looked to be Naruto came barreling out of the brush, to stop just behind the tree they were next to, closely followed by Mizuki. 'Clever.' Naruto thought, looking at the "Naruto" facing off Mizuki.

"You're more problem than you're worth, but I'll be taking that scroll from you now." Mizuki said, holding a kunai in his hand and staring down 'Naruto'.

"I don't think so." 'Naruto' said victoriously and, with a poof of smoke, Iruka was standing there. Mizuki just narrowed his eyes angrily, and growled.

"Why do you defend him? He's a demon! He killed your parent's! You should be gladly letting me kill him!" Mizuki yelled, throwing a barrage of kunai at Iruka, whom was able to dodge all but one, which embedded itself into his leg.

"No he's not! HE wasn't the one that killed my parent's! Naruto is a good kid, who just wants someone to acknowledge him. He just wants to be accepted! I _understand _him. He's stronger than you or I ever could be!" Naruto widened his eyes. No one had ever said that about him before. All he had ever heard was insults. Even though Iruka didn't know the real Naruto, only his clone, some of what he said struck home. He glanced at his clone, which was once again crying.

"Doesn't seem all that strong to me. All he did was run away to let you be killed." Mizuki said calmly. Naruto saw the shift in his body, ready to deliver the killing blow. He saw his clone start to do the hand seal for the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu at the same time and quickly released the portion of the seal that blocked the amount of chakra it was able to use. Within seconds, the entirety of the area the four of them were in was surrounded by hundreds of Naruto's.

"Don't you dare touch Iruka-sensei!" All of the Naruto-clones yelled, jumping all at once onto Mizuki. Naruto was impressed, but wouldn't dare admit it, at the way the clones pummeled the traitor. He himself would have killed the man, but it was best that his clone did it and let the man live. In a way, it was his clone's fight, and having the traitor alive would prove his innocence, after the man was interrogated.

Once the unconscious traitor was tied up, the Naruto-clone walked over to Iruka, looking at him with worry, as he was slowly getting up, being careful with his back and leg.

"Naruto, close your eyes." Iruka told the clone. Naruto watched as his clone close its eyes, and Iruka take of his headband. After removing the goggles on his clone's head, he put the headband there instead. Naruto would usually think some snarky remarks when he saw something like this, but he was quiet, for once.

"You pass." Iruka said, with a smile on his face as his clone opened its eyes. His clone looked at the goggles in Iruka's hand, the missing forehead protector that Iruka usually wore, and felt for it on its own head. Once the clone had realized what had happened, it jumped on Iruka, hugging him, and once again started crying. Naruto turned away from the scene, moving away using the shadows.

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******Thank you for all the reviews! There were some worries about Naruto seeming to powerful, but he will not be God-like or all powerful. He may have some powerful jutsu in his arsenal, but he hasn't had actual fighting experience, so he doesn't really know how to utilize all his power and skills yet. **

**Since it is unknown what exactly was in the Scroll of Sealing, besides the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the seal used on Naruto, I just kind of guessed, using some "forbidden" jutsu that I had looked up. Most of the jutsu I get are from the actual series (either manga or anime) in an attempt to keep it fairly story-lined. **

**Jutsu List:**

**Kanton: Hinoiki (Fire Release: Fire Breath) **The user breathes a powerful stream of fire from their mouth. The flames have enough power to break enormous boulders. Offensive, Long-range.

**Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique) **Naruto's signature jutsu, a variation of the Transformation Technique, made to turn the user into a naked woman. E-rank, Supplementary.

**Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique) **This user creates a massive amount of corporeal (instead of illusion) clones that are given an equal amount of chakra directly from the user. These clones are indistinguishable from the original, even using dōjutsu. A-rank, Supplementary.

**Chakura no Nawa (Chakra Rope) **This technique allows the user to extend their chakra out of their body into binding ropes. The chakra is said to be uncuttable. Supplementary.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Naruto felt more comfortable in the forest than he ever did in his apartment. He actually felt a kind of connection with it. He had even developed a bond with some of the animals in the forest, such as the bears and tigers, which he would sometimes hunt with, as they had started treating him like one of their own. That might have been due to the Kyūbi's influence, but he still felt it was partly him. He even got to practice his medical ninjutsu on them when they got hurt. He was also able to hone his sensing abilities since it was crawling with creatures. He could only sense things in his immediate vicinity, but it was much better than before and he was attempting to expand how far he could sense.

So it was with a resigned sigh that he made his way back to his forest home to start packing up his belongings. Now that he was a genin, it was time he dispelled his clone and moved back into town. He still had until tomorrow to prepare himself for being around people again. As he was approaching it, however, he could feel that someone else was already there. The chakra signature was familiar and it seemed like whoever was there was waiting for him, so he came out of his shadow and approached slowly.

When his tree came into view, he saw the woman, 'Anko' he remembered, sitting on top of the roots which made up the roof of his house.

"Congrats." She said, looking at him. It was with a start that he realized she must have known about him and been watching him this whole time. But he hadn't been able to tell at all.

"How did you know?" He asked tensely with a deep frown.

"The snakes." She said, holding up her arm that had previously been hidden from him that had a snake curled around it. Naruto wanted to smack his head at his negligence.

'Of course.' He thought angrily, 'Snake summons. That was why some of the snakes seemed so strange. I won't be making that mistake again.'

_Thanks for the warning._ Naruto said angrily to the Kyūbi.

_**It seemed inconsequential, and I am not your radar for such things. You should have figured it out yourself**_. The Kyūbi responded, annoyed.

"So? Did you want something?" Naruto asked, meaning 'Are you going to turn me in?' preparing for a fight. He did not sense any killing intent coming from her, but that didn't mean she wasn't looking for one.

"Depends. Did you _find out anything good_?" She pointedly asked, showing him the back of her neck. Naruto's eyes narrowed at what he recognized there. So she was asking him if anything about the Cursed Seal of Heaven was in the Scroll of Sealing.

"I might have seen something. I'll need some time to work it out, though." He told her. Anko nodded and stood up.

"Later." She said with a wink and a grin, turning around with her hand held up in parting, before disappearing into the woods.

Naruto stomped angrily under the roots and started sealing up everything into his arm seal, trying to calm himself. He did not like being caught off-guard. Once everything was sealed, except for his bedding, he created some shadow clones and started training.

"That only worked when I didn't know what it was." Naruto said out loud, after he had finished training the next morning. The snake that was on a branches above him jerked and then, with a poof, disappeared back to where it came from, having its place taken by Anko.

"Looks like you've learned some pretty strong jutsu but do you think you could use them well in a fight?" Anko asked mockingly. Naruto just snorted in response.

"Let's test that out, shall we? It's been a while since I had a good fight and it looks like you could give me one." She said with a vicious smirk, cracking her knuckles.

"Yes, but you're a jōnin and I'm just a genin. That's a big difference in skill." Naruto said with his own smirk, getting into a defensive stance.

"Details." She replied with a shrug, before charging him. Naruto was starting to like this one. He could feel the Kyūbi agree.

It was later that day that his clone came to find the area demolished. Trees were uprooted and destroyed, the ground was covered in small craters, and there was smoke still lingering from scorched areas. Walking through the destruction, the clone found his creator, lying on his back on the ground with his clothes burnt, cut, and stained with blood, watching the sun set. The only indication Naruto gave to his clone to acknowledge its presence was shifting his eyes in its direction momentarily, before looking back at the sun.

"Lose a fight?" His clone asked, sitting next to him.

"She'd like to think so. But it was more of a draw." Naruto replied. He heard the Kyūbi snort. He had most certainly lost, though the Kyūbi was still impressed. His jinchūriki did better than he thought it would against someone with as much skill as the woman had. His jinchūriki had held up well against her, for the most part, and he didn't even use any of the Kyūbi's chakra.

"Our sensei is Hatake Kakashi." His clone told him. Naruto sat up in excitement. He couldn't have been luckier. Kakashi was one of the strongest shinobi in the village and there was a lot Naruto could learn from him.

"He apparently values teamwork above all else." His clone continued with a grimace. Naruto cocked his eyebrow in question. "He made us do some ridiculous bell test to test our teamwork. Told us 'something, something breaking rules are trash, uh, something abandoning comrades are worse'. I wasn't really listening." Naruto rolled his eyes. His clone had a serious listening problem. "But we passed, so it's cool."

"Who else graduated?" Naruto asked, preparing to learn all he needed from his clone.

"There's Haruno Sakura, she's the best! Hyūga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Chōji, Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, she's Sakura's best friend, and that bastard Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto's clone growled the last name. Naruto's faced had gone into a deeper frown the more names his clone said and gone the deepest with the last name. He failed to notice the Kyūbi bristle slightly at hearing the name Uchiha.

Naruto was not surprised that a Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi would all be in the same class together, since their families were close and they would want to continue their clans' formation, but for a child from all the major clans to be in the same class was disconcerting, especially for the last member of the Uchiha Clan to be lumped in there too. Perhaps there was a law enacted that forced them to have children at the same time? But that seemed excessive. He didn't think that anyone could force someone to get impregnated at a specific time. But they might be persuaded to without them noticing. It made him wonder if the Hokage wasn't as ignorant about the clans as he seemed. If a child from each of the clans were put on teams together, they would be forced to work together and know each other's strengths and weaknesses. It would make them realize that their clans were not supreme.

"Seems you don't like the Uchiha, but you have feelings for the Haruno girl." Naruto stated to his clone, intrigued. He was unaware that his clone would be able to have strong feelings towards people. Seems there were some good portions of the seal he made to create the clone. "It's going to be an interesting team."

"Yup! One day Sakura-chan will realize that I'm better that that jerk Sasuke, and she'll get over him and go out with me. And that bastard Sasuke is my rival. I'm definitely gonna beat that asshole into the dirt!" The clone yelled in exuberance. "Wait, how did you know they were my teammates? They decided teams by grades. Do you know everyone's grades?!"

"That may be the case in normal circumstances, but this is highly unusual. They wouldn't separate the Ino-Shika-Chō team, so they will all be together. The Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame will be together, since they are from the other prominent clans and the heads of their clans would want them with another member of a clan. That leaves me, the Haruno girl, who is a civilian, and the Uchiha, whom isn't really a member of a prominent clan anymore since he is the last of his, to be on a team together." 'The throwaways.' Naruto thought to himself, only slightly annoyed. It did make sense, after all. A look of comprehension came over his clone's face.

"So… Does it happen now?" His clone asked quietly, looking down at its hands, clasped tightly together in its lap. Naruto nodded.

"Can you promise me something? I was going around telling everyone I was going to be the Hokage someday, you know." His clone said, with a far-off look in its eyes. "Well, it was more than that. I was actually promising everyone that I would do it. Could you keep that promise for me?"

Naruto sat in silence for a while. When he thought about it, it wasn't so bad of an idea. Naruto had thought to just be powerful enough to be ANBU Captain, or someone of great influence. But he would have much more power as the Hokage. The power to actually make some real changes to the village that were long overdue. He would just have to add learning politics into his routine.

"I can do that." He promised with a nod. His clone gave him a reassured smile.

"Thanks." It said before Naruto dispelled it.

_**We should have used it as a training dummy.**_ The Kyūbi said.

_It would have dispelled when I ripped its tongue out. Besides, you only say that because you enjoy seeing the shit get kicked out of what looks like me. _Naruto accused. He didn't get a reply.

The next day found Naruto meeting with his team for the first time. It was also the day of their first mission. He had arrived at the pre-arranged meeting place to find his teammates already there waiting. Naruto knew that Kakashi was habitually late, due to visiting the graves of his deceased teammates. He had seen him there on many an occasion.

"Naruto! You're late!" A pink-haired girl yelled at him, attempting to punch him in the head. Naruto blocked her punch with his arm. Usually, if someone were to attack him like that he would attack back, but he assumed this was some sort of greeting of hers, odd as it was.

"Sorry." He simply said without feeling, moving away from her and the Uchiha to lean on a tree with his arms crossed. His other two teammates stared at him with surprise in their eyes. They had also just realized that he was not wearing his usual orange jumpsuit. The Uchiha was about to say something when Kakashi showed up. Naruto had been sure to arrive just before their sensei, so that he could spend some time training, instead of waiting around. He had sent a kage bunshin to watch Kakashi and dispel when he was on his way.

"Sorry I'm late! There were these bandits and… Naruto, what are you wearing?" Kakashi asked with surprise. Three sets of eyes turned to Naruto in unison.

"Clothes." He replied. He was wearing his usual moss green short-sleeved shirt and black shinobi pants and sandals, but he was also wearing a black trench coat, which housed all of his weapons, except for his dual blades which were in the seal on his arm. The trench coat, and slouch he was utilizing, were to hide the fact that he was taller than his clone had been by a couple of inches and that he was also more muscular than it had been. He had changed the cloth on his hitai-ate to a longer black one and tied it around his forehead.

"Yes, but what happened to the…" Kakashi made a waving hand gesture in his direction. "Orange?" Naruto just shrugged in response. He knew that his clone had acted more different than him, but he would be damned if he acted as brainless as it did. He felt agreement from the Kyūbi.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura asked, with real worry in her voice, slowly approaching him. He looked to her momentarily, before dodging five shuriken that were thrown at him and grabbing the foot of the Uchiha when he tried to kick him.

"It's an impostor!" The Uchiha yelled, backing away from Naruto with a kunai in hand. Naruto just sighed.

"Kakashi-sensei, will you please tell Uchiha-san that I am not an impostor?" He said, looking to his sensei. They all jerked at how he addressed Sasuke. While Sasuke continued to try and fight Naruto with renewed vigor, ('If you can call that fighting.' Naruto thought, internally rolling his eyes. _**Pathetic**_ he heard the Kyūbi add.) Kakashi removed his hitai-ate from his Sharingan and activated it, looking at Naruto with it.

"It's the real Naruto." He said with shock in his voice, covering back up his Sharingan. He had thought that it was an impostor as well. But how Naruto knew about the Sharingan and what it could do, he was curious to find out. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. As well as everything else that Naruto was hiding. "I think you have some explaining to do."

"I think we have a mission to do." Naruto shot back calmly. Their eyes widened slightly in remembrance. They had been so distracted by the changes within Naruto that they had completely forgotten about their first mission.

"Right, well… After, then." Kakashi said, giving him a serious look. Naruto just nodded and pushed off from the tree to head to Hokage Tower to get their mission briefing. Everyone followed after him, staring at his back tentatively. Well, the Haruno girl was staring at his back tentatively. He could feel the glare from Kakashi and the Uchiha trying to burn a hole in his back. Naruto just sighed internally. 'This is definitely going to suck' he thought.

"Good work everyone." The Hokage told them after their latest mission. He glanced at Kakashi and they had one of their silent conversations which Naruto was able to pick up on easily. They seemed to be having those after every mission briefing.

'Notice anything?' The Hokage asked. He had been surprised with Naruto's sudden change as well and had told Kakashi to keep a close eye on him.

'Only the usual odd behavior. He still hasn't used any real skills yet.' Kakashi answered.

'Think we should test him?'

'That would be best.' The Hokage hummed out loud before nodding to himself.

"Well, I know that it is unusual for a new genin team such as yourselves to do anything but D-rank missions, but you have shown exceptional knowledge and skills, so I think it should be alright to give you a C-rank mission." The Hokage said with a smile. Naruto refrained from rolling his eyes, keeping his face blank. 'So blatant' he thought to himself.

"It's a protection mission. Tazuna-san, could you please come in here?" The Hokage asked. The man that walked in had a grumpy look on his face with the body of a hard worker that drank and ate just a bit too much. The hair on his head and goatee were both light grey. He pushed the glasses further onto his nose before taking a swig out of the bottle he had in his hand as approached Team 7.

"What, this is it? Kids?" He asked, with obvious annoyance. Sasuke glared at the man. "You'd better be good."

* * *

**So finally Naruto has some interactions with people that are not his clone, which he is finally rid of. You will start to see his personality changing due to interactions with others, because really, having nobody but an angry, malevolent fox to talk to would screw up anyone. This chapter also shows that even though Naruto is learning to be strong, he still needs experience before he can be a real ass-kicker.**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The second they set out from Konoha the next morning, Naruto felt two shinobi watching them from the trees. He decided to wait and see what they were up to before attacking them. Kakashi was keeping a close eye on him and he didn't want to give away too much yet. He had even finally activated his weight seals, so that he would move slower. He decided to walk in the back of the group, hoping to avoid conversation.

When they came across a puddle on the road, Naruto saw Kakashi glance at it signifying that he had noticed as well. Naruto had to decide if he wanted to do anything, or just let Kakashi handle it. By the time Naruto had come up to the puddle, he had deduced that it wouldn't hurt anything if he messed with the puddle a bit. He purposely splashed his foot down, onto the puddle. The second his foot touched the surface of the puddle, he shot his chakra out through the bottom of it in the form of a spike. Naruto had the idea from the Chakura no Nawa* that if his chakra could form a rope, it could also form in other ways, and had been practicing. Kakashi turned around the second he heard the splash, to see Naruto take his now wet foot off the puddle.

"Didn't splash as much as I thought it would." Naruto said in a deadpan voice. By now the rest of the entourage had turned around to look at him. He felt the shift behind him and jumped quickly to where the rest of his group was, as two shinobi rose from the puddle, blood staining their chests.

"That hurt, you little bastard!" They yelled in unison.

"Oops." Naruto said in the same voice. He felt more than saw Kakashi move from behind him. The next second he was behind the two shinobi. He shoved both of their heads together, knocking them out. He then proceeded to tie them up. After making sure they were secured properly, he turned to Tazuna.

"Why would shinobi from Kirigakure be here? It almost seemed like they were waiting for us, but why would they be doing that? If they were after any of us shinobi, they couldn't have known that we would be leaving the village. I wonder who they were after." Kakashi said, seemingly rhetorically. Tazuna had the decency to look ashamed.

"Couldn't afford more than a C-rank mission?" Naruto asked with his back slightly turned away from the group. Tazuna jumped in surprise and then looked down in guilt. "We can handle it. We should continue." He said, looking at Kakashi calmly. Naruto knew that Kakashi was thinking about heading back and giving the mission to more advanced Konoha nin. Kakashi stared back for a moment before smiling.

"Right, we finish the mission." Kakashi confirmed, nodding. They continued on in silence, before coming across a boat waiting for them at the edge of the water. Once on the boat, Tazuna told them about the ruthless and wealthy business man that was after his life for trying to build a bridge meant to bring trade into the country.

'So it's all political.' Naruto thought. 'Getting involved in this should give me some good insight for future reference.'

Once landing in Tazuna's home town, Naruto felt an aura he had never encountered before. The killing intent from one of the chakra signatures he felt was so strong, he was actually impressed.

_What do you reckon?_ Naruto asked the Kyūbi.

_**We can probably take him if you go all out, but he's about the level of the one with that damnable eye. It would certainly give yourself away if you engaged him**__. _The Kyūbi responded. Naruto had noticed that the Kyūbi seemed uncomfortable when Kakashi had used the Sharingan on him before to check if he was the real Naruto. So he figured that Kyūbi had a reason to not like that eye and Naruto knew not to ask him anything. The Kyūbi would tell Naruto if he felt it necessary, but if not, he wouldn't say a word.

'I may not be able to fight, but if Kakashi engages this guy, it's going to be quite a show.' Naruto couldn't help it. He was itching to see what 'Sharingan no Kakashi' could do. With his back to the others, he looked straight at where he felt the chakra signature and gave an evil grin. That seemed to set off whoever was there, because there was a shift in the air, before what looked to be a large sword came flying at them.

"Everyone down!" Kakashi yelled, while everyone hit the ground, Sasuke taking Tazuna down with him. The sword embedded itself in the tree next to them and the attacker appeared, standing on it. Naruto got a good look before his heart started racing. He knew who this was from sneaking a peek at Konoha's Bingo Book. Kirigakure's Missing-Nin Momochi Zabuza: Demon of the Hidden Mist and one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist. He looked down at the sword the man was standing on, curious to see what one of the most famous swords in all the countries looked like. It was a massive cleaver with a hole near the end of the blade. Although there was information on some of the Seven Swordsmen, it was only the ones that became missing-nin, and there wasn't really much on the swords.

Kakashi knew that Naruto was no genin-level shinobi, even barring the Kyūbi inside of him. He did not, however, know what his actual skill level was, so he was not going to let him get involved in this fight. He gave Naruto a look that was usually used by ANBU to silently communicate orders saying 'Protect the others', not even slightly surprised when Naruto nodded and moved to stand near the other three.

Kakashi looked back to Zabuza, fully trusting Naruto keep the others safe, and lifted up his hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan.

"Wow, I'm honored; using the Sharingan right away." Zabuza said with excitement. Naruto could tell that the man was smiling under the bandages covering the lower portion of his face. He felt Sasuke jerk beside him in surprise. So the Uchiha had never heard of Kakashi before. 'He doesn't even bother to learn who the strongest shinobi in the village are.' Naruto thought to himself, stopping the eye-roll that threatened to break his blank stare.

He felt the moment Kakashi and Zabuza released their killing intent, ready to fight. Zabuza's killing intent was laced with madness that made a shiver of anticipation run down Naruto's spine and a malicious smirk form. This had been what he was waiting for. A real fight-to-the-death fight. 'Let's see what you've got, _sensei_.' Naruto thought to himself, elated. He felt Sasuke shaking next to him, realizing it was probably the first time the Uchiha had felt such strong killing intent before. Naruto shifted just enough to bump into him. When the Uchiha turned a questioning look to Naruto, he gave him a blank stare. It seemed to work, because the Uchiha stopped shaking and put a serious look of concentration back on his face, getting into a defensive stance.

Zabuza used Shunshin no Jutsu* from the tree to on top of the water near to them, holding a ram seal with one hand across his chest and one in the air. Naruto heard him say "Kirigakure no Jutsu*" before the entire area was covered in mist. Naruto closed his eyes, knowing they were useless in the mist. He had strengthened and honed all of his senses so that if one or more were incapacitated, he could cover the loss with another. It was something he had learned from hunting in the Forest of Death. His nose was also useless, as the mist had a certain smell of moisture that covered everything else, but he was able to hear his teammates shift and sense where everyone was.

"Don't worry." He heard Kakashi tell them, "He'll come after me first. He's a master of silent killing." 'I'm aware, thanks.' Naruto thought sarcastically, this time actually rolling his eyes, since nobody could see him.

He heard Zabuza's voice, naming off the killing points on the body, trying to decide which to go for, while mocking them.

_I would have to say the spine is a person favorite. Lots of pain, but blocks movement and doesn't always kill outright._ Naruto answered to himself reverently.

_**Smashing the brain. You humans have such a pathetically small one, but it looks so nice when it explodes**__. _The Kyūbi supplied back.

_But that's no fun. You can't mess around with them after if you do that._

_**Good point**__. __**Kidney's then. They're actually pretty delicious, you know.**_

…_..Gross. Eat the liver, not the kidney._

Naruto felt Zabuza approach and before he could come between his teammates and their charge, he knocked everyone way, taking out his dual blades from the seal, and crossing them to block Zabuza's sword from going downward. He kicked out with his foot, creating the chakra spike on the bottom, and pushed it into Zabuza, who dispelled into water. He felt Kakashi appeared behind him, just as Zabuza appeared behind him, slashing through Kakashi. He turned to see Kakashi holding a kunai to the neck of Zabuza, telling him not to move.

'This is getting really irritating. There are so many better ways to fight than clone on clone on clone.' Naruto thought to himself. He didn't move when he saw another Zabuza move behind Kakashi and dispel the clone that Kakashi was behind. It seemed like that was all posturing and that was not what Naruto thought a fight between such strong shinobi would look like.

Kakashi dodged Zabuza's blade and tried to move away from the kick he threw at him, but wasn't able to in time and flew onto the water. Zabuza used shunshin to stand on the water next to Kakashi and used Suirō no Jutsu* to trap him into a ball of water. Naruto was having a hard time holding back his annoyance at the whole fight. He hadn't seen anything good!

'This is a waste of time!' Naruto thought angrily, before deciding he had enough. He didn't think either of them were being serious and it was time for them to start. While everyone was focused on Zabuza and Kakashi, Naruto made a clone, which he transformed into Kakashi, to make it seem like Kakashi had done it, and hid him in his shadow. He had his clone move to a shadow on the other side of where they were all facing off and send a barrage of kunai at Zabuza, which made him let go of Kakashi in order to dodge. It looked as though Zabuza figured that it was him, because he looked straight at Naruto, focusing his killing intent all on him. Naruto didn't show any discomfort at having such a strong killing intent focused on him though and just stood, same bored expression on his face, with his arms crossed.

Before Zabuza could make a move, Kakashi grabbed his arm, redirecting his attention back onto him. Zabuza jerked his arm free before he began making forty-four rapid-motion hand seals, which Kakashi copied, seal for seal. They were going through them so fast that Naruto was having a hard time keeping up. Once finished, two large water dragons formed out of the water they were standing on and charged each other. They both collided, exploding and causing large waves, sending water in every direction.

'He was able to copy them so quickly. And even match the amount of chakra that went in, so that they cancelled each other out.' Naruto was finally getting to see the fight that he was waiting for. He saw Kakashi playing Zabuza, by matching every movement he made. 'That Sharingan sure is interesting.' Naruto thought with a frown. He could tell that Kakashi was able to see Zabuza's movements the split second that he made them, which must have been the Sharingan's doing.

Kakashi was incredible at reading people. He could tell what Zabuza was thinking by watching his reactions and saying out loud what he knew Zabuza was thinking, after hearing how he had talked previously. Naruto could read Zabuza just as well, so he knew that Kakashi was not actually reading his mind, as he was bluffing that he could. He saw Kakashi use Zabuza's disorientation to put him under a small genjutsu, in order to further panic him, while he completed a water jutsu that blew him in the air. Kakashi finished by trapping him against a tree using kunai.

"It's over." Kakashi told him. 'That it is' Naruto thought, finally satisfied, before feeling the shift from the second chakra signature that had been hiding throughout the fight and seeing the senbon needles go flying into Zabuza's neck. Naruto narrowed his eyes. Whoever Zabuza's ally was, they were very skilled. It was absurdly hard to hit just those correct points in the human neck for the desired effect of death, without actually causing it.

"True, indeed." Said the voice of Zabuza's companion. Naruto glanced up to see a young man wearing the mask of a hunter-nin from Kirigakure on a branch of the same tree above Kakashi. Kakashi jumped down to check Zabuza's pulse. Naruto knew he wouldn't feel anything but that Zabuza would probably wake back up in about thirty minutes. Naruto saw Kakashi narrow his eyes after feeling for the pulse.

As Kakashi moved away from Zabuza, his young companion used shunshin to land next to the body, picking it up.

"Thanks for your help. I will be disposing of the body now. Farewell." He said, using shunshin to leave.

"Well, time to get Tazuna home." Kakashi said, covering back up his Sharingan, before passing out. Naruto rolled his eyes. So there was one downside to using the Sharingan: chakra exhaustion. He was sure that the more mastered one was over the Sharingan, the less chakra it depleted.

_**That would be correct.**_ He heard the Kyūbi growl in reply. Naruto waited to see if the Kyūbi would go into detail, but that was all the information he offered. Naruto just mentally shrugged, before putting one of Kakashi's arms around his shoulders and carrying him the rest of the way to Tazuna's house, which was a quiet trip.

After coming to the conclusion that Zabuza must still be alive later that night, Kakashi told them they should train so they would be ready for when he comes back. Kakashi met his eyes which told Naruto '_they _train while _you _tell me what's going on'. Naruto inwardly flinched. He had done well avoiding this talk, but it seemed like he couldn't anymore.

While Kakashi was teaching Sasuke, Sakura, and a clone Naruto had created, to make it seem like he was learning with them, about chakra control, Naruto was waiting a good distance off for Kakashi to return so that they could have their 'talk'.

It wasn't long before Naruto could hear the sound of Kakashi approaching. Naruto stayed where he was, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. Kakashi sat with his back against the tree opposite Naruto.

"So, how about you tell me what's going on?" Kakashi asked calmly, closing his eyes with a smile that was more unsettling then reassuring. Naruto sighed. 'Here we go' he thought.

"I take it you read up on our files before taking us as a team, but did you notice anything about me the first day you met me?" Naruto asked. Kakashi frowned.

"I did notice something seemed off about you, but I didn't wonder too much about it." Kakashi replied honestly.

"You thought it was the Kyūbi that made me seem off." Naruto stated more than questioned. The only sign that showed Kakashi's surprise was the slight widening of his visible eye.

"The traitor, Mizuki, told me about it when he had me steal the scroll."

"Ah. It was the first time I had actually observed you, so yes; I thought it was the Kyūbi." Kakashi replied. Now Naruto knew that Kakashi was not able to tell that he had first met a clone. He appreciated his honesty. In exchange, he was going to give him some honesty back.

"Remember when I said that I was going to become the Hokage?" Naruto didn't know for sure if his clone had told this to Kakashi per se, but he knew his clone was spouting it off to anyone who would listen, so he figured Kakashi was one of the people he had made that promise to. Kakashi just nodded his head in affirmation.

"Well, it's hard to become a Hokage when everyone despises you, you know." Naruto said, as if he was just stating some random fact, not something as personal as it was. Naruto noticed Kakashi flinch. "I didn't know why the villagers acted the way they did at the time, but I knew that they didn't like me. It seemed like they disliked me even more when I showed that I had intelligence of any kind." Kakashi's eye widened in understanding.

"You acted that way to make the villagers believe that you weren't a threat." Kakashi stated in awe. Naruto nodded.

"The plan was for me to continue to act that way until I made genin. That was where I would start showing, little by little, what I was actually capable of. But I didn't see the point in continuing to hide my intelligence after graduating, so I stopped that once I knew I was on a team. As a shinobi, the village puts its trust in you to protect the village. It was once I was an actual shinobi that I could start proving myself to the village and make them to acknowledge me." Naruto was hiding his discomfort at having to talk so much. He knew how well Kakashi could read people, so he was telling him mostly the truth. He was just lucky that Kakashi didn't know him during his time in the Academy. He was sure he wouldn't get away with such a story if that was the case.

Kakashi was nodding his head sympathetically.

"That makes sense. You would act the way you did in public, but in private you would be training and getting stronger in preparation for when you graduated. So? How strong _are _you?" Kakashi asked in curiosity, once again smiling. Naruto just smirked in reply.

The clone Naruto created didn't feel like 'learning' how to walk up trees with chakra when he already knew how, so he just sat at the base of his tree, eyes closed, with his hands behind his head, relaxing. He could sense the steady hum of chakra Sakura was controlling through her feet, which told him that she already knew how to do it and had excellent chakra control. He could hear Sasuke struggling with keeping a constant flow through his feet, however. After a while, he could feel their glares on him.

"How do you expect to get any better if you can't control your chakra, Naruto?" Sakura asked him, after she felt she had the process down. Naruto ignored her, feigning sleep.

"He probably just doesn't want to embarrass himself with his lack of control. He probably couldn't even go a step without falling." The Uchiha said smugly. Naruto's eyebrow twitched, but he ignored the jibe. Sasuke was the one without control, not him. Naruto felt Sakura sit next to him.

"Hey, Naruto? What happened? Why are you so different from how you were in the Academy?" Sakura asked him straightforwardly. Naruto opened his eyes and looked at each of them, in turn. Sakura was shifting uncomfortably, in obvious hesitation. Sasuke had a deep frown on his face, arms crossed. It looked like they were both had been waiting for him to explain himself.

Naruto sighed. He put his arms down and sat up, looking at them seriously. Sasuke came to sit with him and Sakura.

"Look, I don't know if you guys have realized it or not, but I'm not really all that popular in the village." Naruto started.

"It's because of your pranks." Sakura stated plainly.

"If you think that, you aren't as smart as you seem." Naruto replied in annoyance. He needed to calm down. Even if he objected heavily to it, this was his team for the time being, and in order for him to advance he needed to get past this stage and the only way to do that was work with this team until he got promoted.

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked angrily, eyes narrowed. Sasuke's eyes were also narrowed at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that." Naruto apologized, but it was obvious he wasn't serious in his apology. "From as far back as I can remember, even _before _I started doing those pranks, the villagers didn't like me. They seemed to think I was some sort of trouble-maker. So, since they saw me that way, I decided to just go with it." Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you know why they treated you that way?" Sasuke asked.

"As far as I can tell, it had something to do with my birth, but that's as much as I know." Naruto replied. They could not read him like Kakashi could, so he could lie all he wanted, but he figured coming as close to the truth without actually saying it was the best option.

"So, that was all just fake then? How you acted when we were in the Academy? All of it?" Sakura asked in surprise. Naruto just nodded his head.

"So what, this is the real you?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded his head again. "But why stop acting like that now?"

"Well, I'm an adult now, aren't I? I'm a shinobi of the leaf and now that I'm a genin, I can start proving myself to the village, so that they can acknowledge me for who I truly am, not for what they see me as." He was startled to see admiration flash in both of their eyes, as well as understanding in Sasuke's. "Besides," Naruto continued, "don't I make a better teammate now than if I acted the same as I did during the Academy?"

"Definitely." Sasuke and Sakura replied in unison with smiles on their face.

"That doesn't excuse you from training." Sakura added seriously. Naruto looked from her to Sasuke, who had a look of agreement on his face, before shrugging his shoulders and flipping backwards onto the tree using his hands, landing feet first. He then slowly walked his way up the tree and flipped off, landing on his feet once reaching the tallest branch. Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at him in amazement.

"How long have you known how to do that?" Sasuke asked angrily. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Want me to teach you?" He asked Sasuke seriously. Sasuke stared at him for a moment, thinking it over, before nodding his head. The rest of the day Naruto taught Sasuke how to control his chakra enough to climb up the tree. Though Sasuke wouldn't admit it, Naruto was a great teacher. He was patient and explained things in simple ways that made learning how to do it easy. By the end of that night, Sasuke had made it all the way up the tree. It was while he was at the top of the tree, looking down at Naruto, who was giving him a nod of approval, that he decided that perhaps Naruto wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**Finally making it to the parts that have some action! In case you haven't noticed, which perhaps you haven't, there are some parts to the original story that I found slightly ridiculous (such as Kakashi and Zabuza's fight, which should have been more impressive). I am aware that it was because Kishimoto-san was trying to build the story and add surprises later in the series, but some of it just caused me to say "REALLY?" when I read it. SO I am discounting the things I found ridiculous in my story (see Chapter 1 about Naruto's father). I know I could have just changed Kakashi and Zabuza's fight, but the first few chapters I wanted to follow the original story for a bit. You'll see why.**

**Jutsu List:**

**Chakura no Nawa (Chakra Rope) **Allows the user to extend their chakra out of their body into binding ropes. The chakra is said to be uncuttable. Supplementary.

**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) **A high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. D-rank, Supplementary.

**Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique) **The user causes a mist to spring forth by lifting up some water from either a pre-existing source or expelled from their mouth then goes in and out of sight, at will, from within the misty realm. The mist's thickness is controlled by the amount of chakra kneaded into it. D-rank, Supplementary.

**Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique) **Used to trap a victim inside a virtually inescapable sphere of water. The user must keep at least one arm inside the sphere at all times in order for the victim to remain imprisoned. C-rank, Supplementary.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A few days after Naruto had taught Sasuke how to walk up trees, he heading into the forest alone. He had just heard the story about Tazuna's grandson, Inari, and his "Father" from Tazuna, and he wanted to be on his own to contemplate it. Since Naruto never had a father, or someone who he looked up to as Inari did, he couldn't understand why the child was so affected by the man's death. People die. That's life. The man didn't sound so much like a hero to Naruto anyway. So the guy helped close a gate to block off a flood by jumping into the raging water and he objected to a corrupt man trying to run their country. Big deal. That just meant that he was doing his duty to protect his home. That didn't make him a hero. What was a hero anyways? Someone who gave up their life for strangers?

_**An idiot.**_ The Kyūbi supplied.

_That may be right._ Naruto said back with a frown. All of the 'heroes' Naruto had heard about were dead, except for the Sandaime, but Naruto had never seen him do anything heroic, he had just heard that he was remarkably powerful.

All of a sudden, Naruto felt the chakra signature of Zabuza's ally coming his way. Naruto lowered his chakra signature and leaned back against a tree, waiting quietly in sight. He got a good look at the effeminate male once he came into view. He was definitely around his own age. He actually looked nice, surprisingly, and he didn't have any malicious aura about him, as Zabuza did. When the boy caught sight of Naruto, he got in a defensive stance, pulling out some senbons. Naruto put his hands up, showing his intent not to fight. A look of contemplation came across his face.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked in curiosity.

"What?" The boy answered cautiously.

"You're close to Zabuza, aren't you? I mean, you would go so far as to put yourself in danger just to rescue him, so you must be, right?"

"Yes." The boy answered, with a curious look on his face.

"How would you feel if he died?" Naruto asked. The boy's face contorted in anger and he got back into a defensive stance.

"I would kill whoever did it." He answered with true malice. Naruto was surprised. The boy seemed so mild mannered, but that seemed to set him off.

"No, I mean how would you feel? I've never been that close to anyone, but I know someone who was. A person that was important to them was killed and apparently the kid completely changed after. I just don't understand why." Naruto said with brows furrowed. The boy looked at Naruto blankly for a second, before putting his senbon away and taking a seat near him, feeling no threat.

"I once didn't have anyone. I was alone. Then Zabuza-san found me. He took me in when nobody else would. He fed me and gave me a _purpose._" The boy told Naruto. Naruto frowned.

"You didn't have a purpose before?" He asked. The boy gave a small, sad smile.

"No. I had nothing before Zabuza-san. He is everything to me. He is my purpose for living. Without him, I would go back to having nothing."

"Why? I understand Zabuza helped you out, but don't you think living for someone isn't living at all? Shouldn't you be living for yourself?" Naruto asked, still confused. The boy gave a soft laugh.

"Think about it this way. Imagine if you were alone. No home, no family, no friends. No way to make money or take care of yourself. You think, perhaps I should die. There is nothing for me, no reason to live. Then all of a sudden, someone comes around and gives everything that you need. How would you feel?" The boy asked looking carefully at Naruto's face. Naruto did think about it, hard. He thought about what life might have been like for him if he didn't have the Hokage looking out for him. A look of realization came across his face.

"I would feel that I owed my life to that person and I would try to return the kindness they have shown me." Naruto began looking at the Sandaime in a new light. He had never really thought about it, but the Sandaime really had helped him out more than he realized. He would have grown up on the streets, with no money for food or a place to live without his help. Every day would have been a struggle for survival. Instead, the Hokage gave him a place to live, money for necessities, and taught him what he needed to know in order to get stronger.

"Exactly." The boy said giving Naruto the same small smile.

"I still wouldn't think that I had nothing if that person died though." Naruto continued with a look of deep thought upon his face. "I would live for the both of us because that person gave me a reason to live, so I shouldn't waste what they gave me by giving up." The boy looked shocked at Naruto's response. It seemed that he had never thought about that before. He gave Naruto a genuine smile. It was so warm, that Naruto felt slightly uncomfortable. Nobody had given him such a smile before.

"You're right." The boy said.

"Hey, what's your name?" Naruto asked him. The boy looked surprised.

"Haku." He replied.

"Alright, Haku. I'm Naruto and for your help, I'm going to give you mine. It's only fair. I'm pretty good with medical ninjutsu, so I'll help heal Zabuza for you." Haku gave Naruto a shocked and suspicious look.

"Why would you do that? He's your enemy."

"No. He may be Kakashi's enemy but he is not mine. In fact, there is something I want to ask him, as well. If you don't trust me, you can keep a senbon to a vital point while I do it and any sign that I might not be truthful, you can kill me."

_**Hey! You can't decide things like that without discussing them with me first! **_He heard the Kyūbi bellow at him.

_It'll be fine. _Naruto replied. Haku stared at him for a few minutes, before nodding. He didn't know why, but he felt an intense feeling of calm and trust around this Konoha shinobi. Naruto gave a small nod of his own to Haku.

"Great. When would you like to start?" He asked Haku.

"Now, if you have the time. But I warn you, I will have to blindfold you on the way there and back. You understand, right?" Haku asked him seriously.

"Of course." Naruto replied calmly. Haku didn't completely trust him, which was smart. If Naruto knew the way to their base, he could just bring his teammates there later if he decided to change his mind. Haku took off the obi around his waist and tied it securely around Naruto's eyes.

"Here we go." Naruto heard him say, before he felt Haku shunshin them. He was still blindfolded as Haku continued to walk him into the building where Zabuza was.

After walking for a bit, Haku stopped and took off the blindfold. They were standing in front of a door.

"Zabuza-san is right inside. I'm not sure how he will respond to seeing you, so please be careful." Haku warned. Naruto nodded in response. The second Haku opened the door Zabuza's killing intent started spilling out. Naruto couldn't help it, he briefly smirked. It wasn't every day that you met someone with as malicious a killing intent as yourself.

"Good job, Haku, you brought me the brat to kill." Zabuza said, glaring at Naruto. Naruto just stared back blankly.

"Nope. I'm here to heal you and to ask some questions." Naruto responded. Zabuza froze. He looked to Haku in confusion, getting a nod of confirmation.

"I… don't understand." He said, confused.

"Well, let's just say, you sparked my interest. It's not every day that you meet someone that's similar to you." Naruto replied still with no emotion in his voice. Zabuza narrowed his eyes and then laughed.

"Kid, you are nothing like me. What are you, a genin straight out of the Academy? So you've got some skill and _maybe _you surprised me. But you have no idea what you are dealing with." Naruto narrowed his eyes as well. He might have been right about the genin comment but not the rest. Naruto then smirked, before letting lose all of the killing intent he had been holding back. It was a mixture of his and the Kyūbi's and the Kyūbi even helped by added more of his own, enough so that Naruto's eyes turned red, pupils becoming slits, his whisker marks became darker, his nails longer and sharper, and his body radiated savagery.

"**You are not the only demon in the world**." Naruto growled, his voice low and gravely from the power radiating off of him. Zabuza had never felt fear before, but he swore then that the feeling shooting up his spine must have been that. Even Haku seemed to be frozen in place, staring. Just as quickly as the power came, it was gone, leaving a blank faced Naruto standing there once again, looking at them calmly.

"So, shall I heal you now while I ask my questions?" Naruto asked. Zabuza and Haku seemed to visibly jerk before looking at each other.

"Alright. Shoot." Zabuza said hesitantly. Naruto approached him and took the seat that was on his left before starting to use his medical ninjutsu on him. He noticed that Haku stayed on the other side of the bed, just watching.

"Why do you work for someone as weak Gatō? I would figure someone like you would rather slice someone like him in half than work for him. Is it because you need money?" Naruto asked, while concentrating his chakra carefully. He didn't look up, but he could feel Haku and Zabuza exchange another look.

"If you must know, we _are_ using him for his money." Haku answered.

"Okay. And what do you need the money for?"

"…That is our own business." Zabuza gruffly answered.

"Fair enough. What if I can help you with that?" Naruto asked them. They looked at him in shock.

"What do you mean?" Haku asked.

"Well, I am in need of some eyes and ears, you see. And you guys seem like you could be some of the best out there. I am, unfortunately, not able to go out and gather my own information about what is happening in the other countries and you are actually the first shinobi outside of my village that I have met, beside the two that attacked us earlier but, no offense, those guys really aren't up to par." Naruto told them, finishing up on Zabuza. He was definitely getting better with the medical ninjutsu. "I would, of course, pay you quite well for your services. I can even give you the locations to some abandoned hideouts that you guys can use."

"That's it? You just want us to tell you any information that we come across? And you just give us money and places to stay?" Zabuza asked in amazement. This was the easiest deal he had ever made.

"Yup." Naruto replied, sitting back in the chair, crossing his arms and looking at them.

"Deal." Zabuza said without hesitation. Haku shot his eyes to Zabuza in surprise, before looking at Naruto and giving him another one of his smiles.

"Thanks. If I pay you in advance, would you mind killing Gatō a little ahead of schedule? He's kind of a pain in my ass right now." Zabuza gave a look of sadistic glee.

"It would be my pleasure." Naruto nodded and handed Zabuza a bag full of money. He looked shocked at how much money was in there. Luckily, since Naruto had never spent the money given to him, he had a lot saved up. Less than he would like, considering his clone had been obsessed with ramen apparently, but more than enough for this deal.

"A _major _pain in my ass." Naruto said smirking evilly back. Zabuza was starting to like this kid. "Here's all the hideouts that are empty that you can use." Naruto told them pulling out a map and marking off a couple of places. "And this is so that I can find you to give you payment, and if you need to contact me, you just push some chakra into it and I'll be there." Naruto pulled out a seal tag and gave it to Haku.

The scroll Naruto found in the Hokage's home that had his name on it described how to do some of his dad's most famous jutsu. It also gave evidence that his dad was indeed Namikaze Minato, since he was the one that wrote it. It looked as if it was written just before Naruto's birth in case of his death. Naruto now knew how to do the Hiraishin no Jutsu* that his dad was so famous for. Naruto was just working out the kinks on it now for his own specific use. Traveling to wherever Zabuza and Haku were at the time would be the longest he had travelled using it though, so he hoped it would work. There was also a jutsu called the Rasengan* that he was going to start learning once he got back home.

"How did you find out about all of these hideouts if you were never able to leave Konohagure before?" Haku asked him.

"I had a contact that told me about them. Don't worry, he's a solid source." Naruto didn't tell them that he hadn't heard from this contact in a few years, but he knew that the information would still be current. They both just nodded at him.

"I should probably head back before my team starts looking for me." Naruto told them getting up. "Oh, and it was a pleasure meeting the two of you." Naruto told them with a bow, before disappearing.

"How the hell-?" Zabuza asked in confusion. Haku just shrugged his shoulders. They both agreed. Naruto was an odd one, but he was also very fascinating. They were looking forward to their new arrangement.

Naruto made it back to Tazuna's residence just in time for dinner. Inari started yelling at Naruto, telling him he should stop being a hero because heroes die, and then started crying. Naruto didn't know why he was yelling at him specifically, but he was becoming a nuisance.

"Hey kid, I'm no hero." Naruto said staring at the kid seriously. He was bluffing really well right now, but doing the medical jutsu, followed by the Hiraishin back to where he placed the seal for it in his backpack had really worn him down. It was the furthest distance he had gone so far and it made him slightly nauseous, so he was a little cranky. "I'm just doing my job. Everybody has a job, a duty, a reason for living. You're grandpa is building this bridge. Your dad was doing whatever he felt was right. Your mom is taking care of you. Maybe one day you'll grow up and get one yourself." Naruto said, giving the kid a glare before leaving the table.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled after him in shock and anger. Inari stared down at the table dumbfounded, before running off to his room, still crying.

Naruto was so exhausted from the day before that he was still asleep when the rest of his team and Tazuna were ready to go to the bridge the next morning. They decided to leave him since something seemed to be bothering him, judging from his attitude the night before, and they didn't feel like getting in the middle of it. They figured he would just catch up when he awoke.

An hour later, Naruto awoke with a jerk, feeling two malicious auras entering the house. He didn't feel any chakra, so they had to be some other sort of assassin. Naruto got up and dressed quickly, before melting into the shadows, to see who was coming.

_Samurai? _Naruto asked the Kyūbi, looking at the two men who were standing over Inari's mom in the kitchen.

_**Looks like it.**_ The Kyūbi confirmed. Naruto could tell that Inari was standing just outside of the kitchen where the two men and his mother were. Naruto wanted to see if Inari would man up and protect his mom, or if he would let her be taken away. He figured that if the kid let his own mother be taken, then he was worthless and beyond help. But if the kid stepped up, Naruto would help out.

Just as the samurai were about to leave with Inari's mom, Inari finally came out of hiding, yelling at them.

"Stop! You can't have her! You'll have to go through me first!" Inari charged at them, with all the courage he could muster.

Before Inari reached the samurai, who had their swords out ready to strike the kid, Naruto jumped out of his shadow and knocked them out, hitting them with the butt of his blades against their temples. He would have killed them but the kid didn't need to see that. He was just a regular kid, not a shinobi, so his life shouldn't involve death and violence. After he tied them up, he turned to the brat.

"Good job, kid. You were able to protect her until I could get here." Naruto told him. "Do you think you can keep taking care of her while I find your gramps?"

"Of course! I'll do a good job and make you proud!" Inari yelled after Naruto, as he was leaping away in the trees.

"Make yourself proud." Naruto called back in response.

He hoped that he didn't miss any action on the bridge and he wasn't disappointed. It looked like Gatō and his army had just arrived. Naruto could sense Zabuza and Haku hiding just off the bridge near Gatō's army. He was waiting to see if they would hold up their end of the bargain. He really didn't want to kill them. He would, of course, if it came down to it, but he kind of liked the pair.

It sounded like Gatō was yelling something about giving up building the bridge or die. He also mentioned the assassins sent to kill his daughter and grandchild.

"Oh, sorry. I took care of those two guys. You should really look into hiring better assassins." Naruto told Gatō as his way of entrance, jumping to Tazuna and his team's side.

"Zabuza! Kill them!" Gatō ordered angrily. Zabuza and Haku, who was no longer wearing his mask, appeared on the bridge next to Gatō.

"That was the hunter-nin! But, he's so young." He heard Sakura say.

"You know, I think I would rather kill _you_." Zabuza said, before slicing Gatō in half. Naruto heard Sakura gasp next to him.

"Maybe not. Better assassins don't seem to want to listen to you." Naruto said to the corpse of Gatō, as the two pieces of him fell to the ground. Before any of Gatō's army could attack Zabuza and Haku in revenge, they used shunshin to appear on either side of Naruto. Kakashi hadn't been expecting it and was caught off-guard.

"Our job is done here. The rest is up to you. See you around, kid." Zabuza said, looking at Naruto. Naruto nodded to him then at Haku, who gave him a smile, before they disappeared.

"Naruto? What just happened?" Kakashi asked in utter confusion.

"Hm? Oh, I just convinced them that working for Gatō was a bad idea, that's all." Naruto said with a shrug.

"When?"

"Yesterday." Naruto replied, nonchalantly. Tazuna and his team couldn't believe that Naruto had actually _convinced _Zabuza to leave, and without fighting Kakashi again. "I think we have something a bit more important to worry about." Naruto told them, shifting his eyes to the now jobless and very enraged army.

"Right." Kakashi said. "This is going to be slightly difficult."

"Not to worry! We're here to help!" The group looked to find Inari leading all of the villagers, who looked ready to fight. Gatō's group didn't look so bloodthirsty now that they were actually up against another army. They were actually looking really unsure.

Naruto looked between the two groups with a frown. Gatō's army looked only slightly trained, but they had some nasty looking weapons. The group Inari was leading was all the untrained villagers, some with only sticks. If they were to fight, there would be lots of casualties. It would be a damned massacre, even with the help of Team 7. If he really wanted to be anyone with power, he needed to be good at politics, which was about utilizing the power of minds and words. He needed this fight to end without bloodshed, which meant he needed to make some sort of impressive speech. He just hoped that it would work.

"Do you really want to keep fighting? Yes, you have lost your jobs, but once this bridge is built, there will be jobs for all of you." Naruto's voice while addressing the leaderless army carried to everyone on the bridge. "The future you were fighting for is over. Will you continue to fight and lose your lives for nothing, or will you become part of history and help create a new and better future for your country?" Even to Naruto's ears it sounded like the lamest thing he had ever said, but he needed to establish himself here. If this worked, he would be one step closer to renown.

_**I think I'm going to throw up.**_ The Kyūbi said. It actually sounded like he was gagging a little.

_Up yours._ Naruto responded in humiliation.

* * *

**I wanted to keep Zabuza and Haku alive because I really like their characters. They will be minor ones, though, appearing only once in a while in the story. Really, the only reason why they had to die in the first place was for Naruto to release the Kyūbi and to make him understand what it really means to be a shinobi and he already knows that in this story, so I didn't find it necessary to kill them. ****You will find out more about who Naruto's contact was later in the story.**

**Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I like gore. So far their hasn't been much need for it, but it will increase as Naruto gets into more fights.**

**Thank you for all the reviews! I'm really glad to see so many people enjoy my story!**

**Jutsu List:**

**Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) **Allows the user to transport themselves to a marked location instantaneously using a special seal or "technique formula" to mark an intended destination. After this is done, they can enter a dimensional void at will that instantaneously transports them to the location of the seal. S-rank, Supplementary, All ranges.

**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere) **A powerful technique created to imitate the **Bij****ū**dama (Tailed Beast Ball) that does not need the aid of time-consuming hand seals to control. Current development of the Rasengan only allows chakra shape transformation, but is intended to incorporate the user's nature affinity into the technique. A-rank, Offensive, Short-range.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Team 7 was finally to leave Nami no Kuni and make their way home. Naruto was still amazed that the ridiculous speech had worked. He figured that Gatō's army was just made up of uneducated idiots used to listening to people that sounded smarter than them and that's why they listened to him. They had even agreed to help finish the bridge.

"Oh look, the hero is here." Kakashi said when Naruto stepped out of Tazuna's house, ready to leave. "Good morning, Mr. Hero! Please make sure all the bad guys leave us alone on our way home!" Kakashi called to him. Sasuke and Sakura started snickering.

"Fuck off." Naruto growled back walking past them towards where the boat was waiting to take them back. He heard them snicker louder behind him.

_**You know, they have a point. Think of the amazing fight you would have been in if you had just kept your mouth shut and let things happen. **_The Kyūbi commented. He was right, of course. All Naruto did on this mission was talk, if you don't count blocking Zabuza's sword once, or stabbing those so-called shinobi twins with his chakra. He needed to work on his aim with that, since he was actually trying to kill them. And it was his first ever A-rank mission and his first time out of Hi no Kuni.

Naruto held back a sigh at the missed chance for a good fight, but it was better this way. He was still able to keep his skills hidden and it looked like Kakashi wasn't paying as much attention to him anymore. Not only that, but he now had two spies working for him. 'Who knew that words could be so useful?'

Once Team 7 had reached the boat, they saw Tazuna standing there, waiting for them. He gave them all a big smile and thanked them profusely for all of their help. He gave Naruto extra thanks.

"So, do you know what you are going to name the bridge yet?" Sakura called back to him as the boat started moving away.

"The Great Naruto Bridge!" Tazuna yelled back with a smile. Team 7's eyes shot to Naruto and he saw their mouths start to open.

"DON'T." Naruto snapped at them and the Kyūbi, who had started to say something as well, angrily. They began snickering again, but didn't say anything else the entire way home. Once they got back to Konoha, he immediately took off for the Forest of Death before they could even think about saying anything else to him. They could give the damn mission report on their own. He was done being around people for a while.

The next morning, he sensed Sasuke outside of his apartment. The Uchiha had been pacing in front of his door for a couple of minutes, seemingly contemplating whether or not to knock. Team 7 should have the day off, considering their mission had been a higher ranked one. Naruto sighed and got dressed, hiding all of his scrolls and books in the seal on his arm before walking to the front door and opening it. He saw Sasuke in the doorway, his hand flying behind his back as if he wasn't about to knock. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him in question. Sasuke furrowed his brows and cleared his throat nervously before speaking.

"I was wondering…if you would like to spar." Sasuke said haltingly, as if confused as to why he was asking. Naruto was about to shoot him down, since he knew the Uchiha was below him in skill, and it would just be a waste of his personal training time to agree, but he stopped before answering. He didn't actually know how much skill the Uchiha had and learning how to fight someone with a Sharingan would definitely be beneficial. He could also feel the potential the Uchiha had. It would be nice to have a sparring partner that was near his level, once the Uchiha gained more skill. He could just send his clones to train while he was with the Uchiha anyways.

"Sure, why not?" Naruto instead responded with a shrug. Sasuke looked at him in surprise, as if he was expecting Naruto to refuse. He then nodded and moved out of the doorway for Naruto to exit. After locking the door, he followed Sasuke to Team 7's usual training ground.

"Was there anything in particular that you wanted to work on?" Naruto asked Sasuke once they reached their destination.

"Everything. I need to get better at everything." Sasuke replied bitterly with a frown. Naruto was surprised. The Uchiha was really serious about getting strong and knew that he was lacking.

"Why?" Naruto asked, actually curious.

"I am nowhere near close enough to kill _that man_." Sasuke replied with malice in his voice.

"Which man?" Naruto was confused.

"_Uchiha Itachi_." Sasuke said the name with so much venom that Naruto could almost see the hatred coming off of him. Naruto was even more confused. Why Uchiha Itachi? Didn't Sasuke know the truth about his clan?

"Because he killed your family?"

"Because he _massacred _my family!" Sasuke yelled. Naruto had never seen the Uchiha show so much emotion before but he didn't miss the spark of madness forming behind his eyes.

"Do you know why he did it?" Naruto asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible in order to not set off the Uchiha.

"Because he's insane!" Sasuke was still yelling angrily.

"Do you really think that's the case? You grew up with him, didn't you? You're his brother, so you knew him better than anyone. Think back. Did he really seem insane to you?" Naruto knew that Itachi had been forced to kill his clan but he wasn't about to tell the truth to Sasuke. He doubted the Uchiha would even listen to him. He needed to find out the truth for himself.

That comment actually gave Sasuke pause and the anger lessened to be replaced with confusion.

"I...he…" Sasuke stuttered, not really sure what to think.

"Think back, to before what happened. What was your brother like? What was his reputation? How did he seem?" Naruto asked calmly.

"He…was always so nice to me. He was always so busy, doing missions, but he always made time to spend with me." Sasuke replied quietly, a far-off look in his eyes. "Everyone called him a prodigy. They said he was one of the best shinobi in Konoha."

"And the rest of your family? What were they like? Did you notice anything strange about them?" Naruto asked. Sasuke's eyes shot back to Naruto, with a sharp look in them. When he saw Naruto's blank face and calm demeanor, his anger dissipated and a thoughtful look came over his face.

"My mother was very kind and loving but the rest of the family was very secretive and focused on power. They would have a lot of meetings that I was not allowed to attend. My father was usually pretty cold to me but he was really focused on Itachi. At some point, him and Itachi had some sort of falling out and they stopped talking. Then my father started giving me attention, telling me not to be like Itachi." Sasuke then remembered a time when he had overheard an argument between Itachi and his father, where his father accused Itachi of being more dedicated to Konoha then the Uchiha's, as if they were separate.

Naruto could see the myriad of emotions and thoughts on Sasuke's face, ending again with confusion.

"I…don't understand." Sasuke finally said. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Well, Itachi obviously left you alive for some reason. How about instead of trying to kill your brother, you have him tell you the truth?" Naruto suggested. That's what he would want, if he was in the Uchiha's position. He saw Sasuke frown, then nod, looking back up at Naruto with a look of determination.

"You're right. I've been so focused on getting revenge that I didn't even stop to think why Itachi did it. But I _do _want to know."

"Right. And in order to do that, you need to get stronger, so that you can face your brother." Naruto finished for him. Sasuke nodded, feeling a bit odd. For so many years, he had been harboring this hate and vengeance within him, that it felt strange for it to be gone. Naruto knew about the madness that threatened all the Uchiha, so he knew that even if it had currently left Sasuke, that didn't mean it couldn't return in some other form.

_**Look at you, talking again instead of fighting. If I didn't know you were actually strong, I would say that you use words to hide your lack of skill. **_The Kyūbi mocked. He was, in truth, amazed at his jinchūriki's ability to control people by just speaking to them. It didn't look like the kid realized it, but that was a rare and incredibly powerful ability.

Naruto ignored the Kyūbi and focused on Sasuke. The Uchiha was looking anywhere but at him and looked exhausted. He supposed that it was a lot for the Uchiha to take in, believing something for years then finding out that it may not be true. It didn't look like he was up for that spar he had wanted before.

"How about we get something to eat?" Naruto didn't know why he asked, but he had a feeling that the Uchiha didn't want to talk anymore, yet didn't want to be alone either. Sasuke just nodded his head. Naruto remembered seeing packets of dango in Sasuke's bag on their way to Mizu no Kuni, so he led Sasuke to a dango stand figuring he must like them.

Once they had taken a seat at the bar, he had Sasuke order whatever he wanted. Naruto refrained from getting anything himself, noticing the glares he was getting from the people behind the counter and not wanting to have food that they would undoubtedly mess with. After their order had been taken, Sasuke turned to Naruto in confusion.

"Why didn't you get anything?" He asked.

"I ate already." Naruto replied with a shrug. Sasuke frowned and looked around the shop. He noticed the glares people were sending Naruto's way, some people even getting up and leaving. He even noticed the shop owner glaring at Naruto, after placing Sasuke's order in front of him.

"So this is what you meant earlier?" Sasuke asked him, referring to when Naruto's clone had told them about the villagers not liking him. Naruto just tilted his head in agreement. "Did you not order anything because they would do something to your food? Does this always happen?" Naruto didn't respond, instead just placing his elbow on the counter and resting his head on his hand, looking at the ceiling. Sasuke was starting to get angry. Naruto said it had something to do with his birth, so it wasn't anything he could have stopped or anything he did personally. Sasuke opened his mouth, ready to berate the people in the shop, when he was interrupted.

"Naruto, Sasuke, what are you two doing here?" Sasuke turned around and Naruto shifted his eyes slightly to see the three people who entered the shop behind them. Naruto saw that the three were around the same age as him and wearing hitai-ate. The one that called to them was a male with medium length brown hair tied up into a high ponytail.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, annoyed at getting interrupted. Naruto didn't reply since it was obvious what they were doing there, so it had to be a rhetorical question.

"I'm amazed to see you two together without there being a fight. Are you two trying to get along now that you're on the same team?" The same male asked, taking a seat next to Naruto. The female in the group took a seat next to Sasuke and started flipping her long blond hair that was also tied up in a high ponytail over her shoulder, in what Naruto figured to be a flirtatious manner, towards Sasuke while shooting a glare at Naruto. Naruto saw Sasuke frown in annoyance at his still untouched food in front of him. The other large brown-haired male of the group took the seat on the other side of the ponytailed male. Naruto figured that perhaps they were friends of his clone since they seemed comfortable with him, except for the blonde.

"I think we get along pretty well." Naruto told them with a shrug. The three stared at him in shock, before looking in question at Sasuke, who just grunted in agreement.

"Wow, Naruto. Being a genin really made you grow up a lot, didn't it Shika?" The large male said in awe. Naruto turned to look at him, catching the look of confused contemplation on the ponytailed male's face.

"That it did, Chōji." He replied, eyes narrowed. Ah, so this was the new Ino-Shika-Chō team. Naruto had to be careful. He could see the intelligence in the Nara's eyes and the way he was looking at Naruto was making him slightly nervous. This kid was smart and probably already figured out that Naruto was acting too differently from before for it to be just from becoming a genin.

"Come on, Naruto. I'm not hungry anyways." Sasuke said, leaving some money on the counter and getting off his stool. Naruto followed him out. He could feel the eyes of the Nara intently on him as they left. He had a feeling he would be seeing him again very soon.

After leaving the shop, Naruto followed Sasuke back to their usual training ground. It seemed that the Uchiha got the fight back into him because for the rest of the morning, into most of the evening, they began training. It had started out with sparring before Naruto had to cut it short to instruct Sasuke on how to properly do some taijutsu moves and ninjutsu, which continued until the sun began setting.

They had parted with Sasuke looking exhausted but satisfied, making his way home. Naruto just sat down on the ground, with his back leaning against one of the three large wood logs place vertically in the ground and waited. He only had to wait half an hour before the Nara showed up. Naruto was glad to see that he was alone.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Shikamaru asked, using the log on Naruto's right to lean against as he sat down.

"Not really, but I have a feeling that if I don't, you're going to try and figure it out on your own, which might make things worse." Naruto replied.

"You're not the same Naruto that was in the Academy. You didn't even recognize us earlier." Shikamaru was looking annoyed. Perhaps because he couldn't figure out what was going on and the Nara's don't like not knowing things. Naruto had to really think. If he didn't tell the Nara something believable, then he would probably start poking around or worse, asking questions of others, which would bring attention to him. But he couldn't use the same story he told Kakashi because apparently the Nara already knew that it wasn't really him before, so saying he was putting on an act wouldn't fly. He really wished he hadn't been in the same class as this guy.

"I'm not the same, no. But it _was_ Naruto that you knew." Naruto replied calmly.

"A clone." Shikamaru stated, without surprise.

'So he had already figured that much out. He is probably just confused as to how and why I did it then.' Naruto thought. There really was no other way but to tell the truth and he really hoped that the Nara wouldn't go running and telling everyone once he did. He didn't seem the type, but you never know.

"The Hokage wanted me to attend the Academy but I had already started learning on my own. I thought it would be a waste of time and training if I were to go, so I created a clone to go in my stead." Naruto told him, nonchalantly.

"Seems you do well learning on your own, since you could create an advanced, self-sustaining clone." Shikamaru stated, suspiciously.

"Have you ever read through the books in the library? They hold an immense amount of knowledge and jutsu."

"Not in the civilian and Academy section of the library. You would need to get into the jōnin level section for something like that." Shikamaru pushed. Naruto had to be very careful about what he said now. This was a Nara he was talking to and the only reason he was able to access high level information was from essentially stealing the jutsu they were known for and modifying it. "Look, I've already figured that the reason you did this, and how you made the clone, is something that you would get in trouble for and I really don't care. I won't say anything, because I can tell you didn't do it to endanger the village in any way. So why don't you just tell me the truth? Mendokusai…" Naruto could tell the other was getting tired of his hesitation.

'Fine, if he wants the truth, then I'll give him the truth.' Naruto thought, getting annoyed. There was no way to get around this guy, so no more beating around the bush.

"Since my dad, the Yondaime, sealed the Kyūbi inside of me the day I was born before dying, the villagers act as if I _am_ the Kyūbi and they fear and hate me. They seem to really get offensive when I show that I have any intelligence, so I have to sneak around to get any information. I learned how to do fūinjutsu and I used it to create a method of being able to travel in the shadows, which is how I was able to access the higher level sections of the library and why I thought it would be a waste of time going to the Academy, because I already had skills and knowledge that far surpassed anything that they taught there. It was also through the use of a bunshin created from two nature manipulations and fūinjutsu that I was able to create the self-sustaining clone." Shikamaru blinked slowly, a blank look on his face.

"I see." He finally said looking at the ground frowning. "The way the villagers treat you, your birthday, your resemblance to the Yondaime, the Hokage's interest in you, it all make sense now."

"You're the only one to notice." Naruto said with a snort, rolling his eyes.

"Apparently." Shikamaru replied with a smirk. "You know, I was friends with that clone of yours back in the Academy, but I think I like the real you better. You ever play shōgi?"

"Nope, though I've read how to." Naruto responded with his own smirk.

"We should play some time. I have a feeling that you would actually be a challenge." Shikamaru told him. Naruto's smirk grew wider and he nodded. "Then you can tell me how you were able to create that method to travel in shadows." Naruto's smirk vanished as he watched Shikamaru get up and leave the training ground.

Naruto had interacted with others more than he was comfortable with this particular day, but there was still one other person he had to speak with. In fact, it was the only person he had intended to meet that day. He had initially wanted to go into the forest and train with the clones until the evening then go visit the Hokage, but Sasuke showing up had really messed up his schedule. So Naruto begrudgingly made his way to the Hokage Tower.

Once Naruto was allowed into the Hokage's office by his secretary, after receiving an annoyed glare for showing up so late, he kneeled down in front of the Hokage in the same way he kneeled when first meeting the Kyūbi.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto said in greeting while still remaining kneeled.

"Naruto. Is there something you wanted?" The Sandaime asked, looking at Naruto in confusion. When Naruto was in the Academy, he used to come and visit him all the time and he would never refer to him as anything other than 'Jiji'. He had looked at Naruto as if he was another grandchild, since he acted as if he was. After Naruto had become a genin, he seemed to have changed and withdrawn from the Sandaime. He would not admit it out loud, but he missed having Naruto around. He used to actually look forward to Naruto's visits.

Naruto did not say anything, only slightly cocked his head to the side. The Sandaime understood the silent communication and, with a signal from his hand, the two ANBU hiding in the office left. Once they had left, Naruto looked up at him.

"How did you know they were there?" The Sandaime asked. Naruto never seemed to know that they were there before, but now, he seemed to know when they were there and when they left.

"I believe I owe you an apology and an explanation." Was all Naruto said. The Sandaime blinked in surprise.

"Please, go on." The Sandaime said, gesturing with his hand to the chair next to Naruto. Naruto nodded and got up, taking the offered seat.

"First, I would like to apologize for deceiving you." Naruto started, frowning. The Sandaime's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Naruto raising a hand. "Please, let me just say everything I need to first, because there is a lot to say and not all of it is good. But I feel if you hear the entire story, you will understand." The Sandaime frowned, but nodded his head, gesturing for Naruto to continue. A very serious look came over his face; a look that he reserved for when he was discussing sensitive and very important matters.

"For a long time, I have been avoiding the villagers. I'm sure you can understand why." Naruto said crossing his arms, getting comfortable. The Sandaime narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "I know you have done everything in your power to help me and you will never know how much that means to me. I owe a great deal to you and I have done nothing but squander the generosity you have shown me and abuse it. I only recently truly understood what you have done for me, which is why I am here, telling all this to you now." Naruto was slightly stalling, but he was nervous. He was about to tell the Hokage almost everything and he could very well be thrown in jail for the rest of his life for it, but the Hokage deserved to know the truth. He was the only one that had cared for him since his birth and been nothing but kind to him. The talk with Haku had really stuck with Naruto.

So Naruto started from the beginning and told him everything he had done. He made sure to leave off some of the techniques he had learned, not feeling it necessary to disclose _everything_. By the time Naruto had finished his story, there were only a few hours left until dawn. The Sandaime had been silent the entire time, completely focused on what Naruto was saying, resting his chin on his hands, elbows on his desk. He sat there for a few minutes longer and Naruto determined he must be deciding what exactly he was going to do. He could understand the Hokage's dilemma. Naruto had just essentially told him that he was a danger to the entire village. His seal was weak (even though he had it under control), he had been spying on and stealing from Konoha shinobi, and he had been able to deceive the entire village, including the Hokage himself, for years.

"I understand if you wish to arrest me. I will not put up a fight." Naruto finally said, cutting into the silence. He could hear the Kyūbi yelling at him angrily, as he had been since the moment Naruto stepped into the office ready to spill everything.

"That will not be necessary." The Hokage finally said. The serious look on his face had turned into one of calm decisiveness. "If what you are saying is true, then you are a valuable asset to Konohagure. It would be a waste to throw you into a cell. You would make an excellent ANBU. But before you could, you must first become a chūnin, which means I will have to enter your team into the upcoming exam." Naruto was doing his best to conceal his surprise, but he was sure his eyes had widened just a fraction. He thought he was going to get punished, but it looked like the Hokage was going to ignore everything and actually try to promote him.

"Hokage-sama… you're not angry?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"No. You were correct. Hearing the entire story made me understand. I'm not angry; I am actually ashamed of myself." The Hokage answered honesty, rubbing his temples, and it seemed like the energy just drained from him.

"I don't understand." Naruto said, frowning. Why would the Hokage be ashamed of himself? He didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm old, Naruto, and not what I once was. I have grown ignorant and perhaps I still cannot look beyond what I wish to see to how things really are. I have always been told that I was a dreamer." The Hokage sighed. "I thought I was protecting you by not allowing anyone to speak about the events of your birth and by not giving you special attention, but I have just made things worse. You are the way you are because of this foolish old man's actions. I cannot blame you for anything you have done. You have become an exceptional young man, Naruto, and I am actually very proud of you." This time Naruto's eyes did widen.

"I know you will do great things, Naruto. Whether you see it yet or not, the Will of Fire is strong in you and I genuinely believe you will one day surpass me." The Hokage said with a sincere and warm smile. Naruto quickly got out of the chair and resumed his kneeling position in front of the Sandaime with his head down.

"I will not let you down, Hokage-sama." Naruto said, more serious that he had ever been. No one had ever believed in him before.

"I know you won't, Naruto." The Sandaime replied, ending their conversation. Naruto lowered his head slightly, before standing up and leaving the tower. He finally understood what Haku had been trying to tell him. Naruto knew that he would, without a thought, give up his life for the Sandaime because he owed it to him.

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**Before anyone makes comments about Naruto's changing personality, I would just like to reiterate that it is due to his interactions with others. I am not trying to change Naruto from Canon too much, I am just making his personality match the way he grew up. So, in essence, he will still have some canon qualities, like his "Talk no Jutsu" and his ability to make friends and be dedicated to said friends, but it will be from a slightly different angle.**

**That being said, I would also like to say that I am not a basher (despite despising Sasuke and Sakura with a bitter passion), so I am just changing them slightly so they are less annoying.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And thanks for hanging in there. In the next few chapters the story will begin to deviate from Canon and will eventually be completely different.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry! I saw from your reviews that I somehow missed a chapter, which is weird since I mark off which chapters I post and this one was marked as being posted. Sorry again! Here is the real Chapter 6. Looks like you get 2 chapters today...**

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Chapter 6

There were only a few days left until the chūnin exams when Naruto felt Haku's chakra calling him through his corresponding seal. It was mid-morning and he had been training in the forest with his clones since the sun had come up. It was the first time that Haku had called him, so Naruto was glad that the seals worked. He had tested them out himself, but he was starting to worry that perhaps they didn't work so well over long distances. He made sure that his clones were all working on something before he used the Hiraishin to where Haku and Zabuza were waiting.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun." Haku said when Naruto appeared before them.

"Yo." Zabuza said, sitting on a couch next to Haku.

"Good morning Zabuza-san, Haku-chan. I hope things have been going well for both of you." Naruto replied. He was nauseous from the Hiraishin, but he hid it. He knew it would be much worse when he got back.

"Very well, thank you. We really appreciate the information you gave us regarding the safe houses." Haku bowed to Naruto.

"Yeah yeah, enough with the bullshit. Do you have our payment?" Zabuza asked. Naruto cocked his eyebrow at Zabuza, but threw a pouch full of money at him.

"What have you got for me?" Naruto asked. If Zabuza wanted to get to the point, then he would too.

"We have heard quite a bit regarding a new village called 'Otogakure'. It seems to be growing and expanding bases into other countries fairly quickly. From what we heard, a man named Orochimaru is the leader of this group." Haku explained. Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew of this Orochimaru. He was the one that had created the curse seal that was on Anko and he was also one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. And apparently an evil genius, if what he had read in some books was true.

'So that is what he has been up to these past years.' Naruto thought.

"We have also heard that he plans to use Sunagakure in an invasion of Konohagure. I am not sure how he plans to do that, but from what we hear, it has something to do with the upcoming chūnin exams taking place there. I'm sure you know of that?" Haku continued. Naruto nodded his head. This was bad. So Orochimaru was going to use Sunagakure to attack Konoha in his place. Or did Suna ally with Oto? But why? Oto was even smaller than Suna, which was the smallest of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Even with Oto allied with Suna, they would not be able to take on Konohagure. Sure, it would damage the village but Konoha would still be able to win. Why was he even wanting to attack Konoha? It seemed as though he wanted to start a war but was it just because he wanted to get back at Konoha? That didn't seem right. If he wanted Konoha weakened enough to take over then he should use Kumogakure, which was the closest to Konoha in power. Besides, Orochimaru had left the village himself, although his was getting heat from the village due to his experiments, and he had started up his own village, so he shouldn't even care about Konoha anymore. There had to be some other reason.

"Is that all?" Naruto asked.

"Actually, we have heard of another group that has been getting some attention, which Orochimaru was once a part of. They are calling themselves the 'Akatsuki'. They first appeared in Amegakure around the Third Shinobi War, but there isn't much we know besides they overthrew the leader of the village and took it over. Apparently now it is just a small group of mercenaries, as far as Zabuza and I can gather, who are incredibly powerful, probably all S-ranked shinobi. We haven't been able to collect much intel them, since they keep to themselves, so we're not sure of their motive. It seems they only have a handful of members, whom move in teams of two. They all wear black cloaks with red clouds on them." Haku supplied with a frown. Zabuza had an annoyed look on his face.

"Did they approach you and ask you to join?" Naruto asked, getting an odd feeling from the two. They looked at him in surprise, before nodding. "What did you tell them? I'm sure they could offer more than I could."

"We told them no. Zabuza-san and I have our own plans and we don't want to be deterred from them. You're assistance is all we need." Haku responded.

"You have been most helpful. Is there anything you need while I'm here?" Naruto asked.

"Actually, I have a question." Zabuza said. Naruto's eyebrow lifted, silently telling him to continue. "You used those dual blades when we fought before. You any good with them?" Naruto was surprised by the question, but didn't let it show.

"I'd say I'm proficient with them." Naruto responded, before Zabuza threw something covered in cloth at him. Naruto caught it, feeling an odd energy coming from whatever was wrapped within it. After looking inside, he found two slim, double-edged blades that were pulsing a strange energy. They both had small, upward pointing blades near the top and bottom of the main blade.

"They are called Kiba." Zabuza told him. Naruto frowned. He knew he had heard that name before. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"These are-" Naruto began in awe.

"One of the swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Zabuza finished for him. Naruto just looked up at him in confusion. A look of embarrassment came over Zabuza's face. "We retrieved them from the previous owner. We thought you would make better use of them."

"And we wanted to thank you for everything you have done for us." Haku added with a smile. Zabuza was still looking away from Naruto, in obvious discomfort.

"Thank you." Naruto said with genuine appreciation, giving them a deep bow. This was the first gift anyone had ever given him and for it to be such an inexplicable one, Naruto was truly honored that they would give such a gift to him.

"Yeah yeah, just don't cut yourself. These are known to be the sharpest swords in existence, you know. They utilize lightning chakra, but if you can't use that, it's fine. They'll still be deadly." Zabuza said, feeling awkward about the whole situation.

"Not to worry. I will figure out how to use them properly." Naruto said with a small smile. Zabuza looked away again in embarrassment, scratching his head. Haku just looked between the two with a smile of his own.

"That was all. You can go now." Zabuza said quickly. Naruto just bowed to them and disappeared.

"Naruto-kun is going to be a great shinobi one day. And we can say we were right there, next to him, helping him along the way." Haku said softly to Zabuza, who nodded.

When Naruto arrived back in the forest, he immediately fell to his knees a retched. The clones stopped what they were doing and ran over to him in worry.

"I'm fine. Just give me a sec." Naruto told them sitting back and breathing deeply. They looked at him with doubt, but went back to training, keeping their eye on him. He wrote a letter while sitting to send to the Hokage. He didn't know if the Sandaime knew of the Suna threat or not, but he wanted to warn him, just in case. He left out the part about the Akatsuki, because they didn't seem to be interested in Konoha. He then had a clone deliver the letter.

"Ugh, not now." Naruto huffed in annoyance. The barrier seal on his apartment just went off, letting him know that Sakura was there, about to knock on his door. He was getting awfully popular lately.

"I can go." One of his clones offered. "It'll just get worse if you use it again."

"It's fine. I'll go. You guys continue training. I need to get used to it anyway." Naruto said with a sigh, getting up slowly. He used the Hiraishin to get into his apartment. Once there, he fell to his knees again but held back the retch. He could hear Sakura still knocking at the door. He took a deep breath, stood up, and composed himself while he slowly made his way to the door.

"Hello Sakura-san." Naruto said after opening the door. It looked like she had just turned and was starting to leave.

"Oh! I thought you weren't home." Sakura said with a blush.

"Can I help you with something?" Naruto asked her.

"Um, well actually…Can I come inside?" Sakura asked awkwardly. Naruto didn't respond, just opened the door wider and moved out of the way, inviting her in.

"Would you like some tea?" He asked her, having read that when guests come over it was polite to offer tea, closing the door behind her. She was looking around his apartment curiously. It was devoid of everything but some old looking furniture and was impeccably clean. Sakura didn't know why, but she thought it would be messier.

"Yes, please." She answered with an awkward smile, making her way to the couch and sitting down while still looking around. Naruto moved to the kitchen and put some water in a pot. His stove was old and took almost ten minutes to boil water, so instead of using it he concentrated some fire into his hand and heated the water quickly. He poured the water into two cups that were chipped and mismatched and added the tea. He set her tea on the coffee table in front of her and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

"That was quick!" She said in surprise. Naruto just shrugged in reply, sipping his tea gently, waiting for her to explain why she was here. He was glad for the tea, since it began to alleviate his nausea. Sakura picked up her cup and held it nervously in her hands.

"I know you've been training with Sasuke. I can tell whenever we get together as a team to train that he has gotten so much stronger lately. I…feel like I'm so far behind you two. I don't want to hold you guys back, but I don't know what to do! I'm just so weak…" Sakura's eyes started to water as she looked into her tea cup, hands tightening around it. Naruto was quiet for a moment, not sure how, or if he even wanted to, console her. He didn't know why she decided to come to him, but just as with Sasuke, Sakura was part of his team and he acknowledged those that realized they were weak but wanted to get stronger. Naruto knew that Kakashi didn't know how to train Sakura, so she was usually left on her own when they all trained together. He did feel bad that Sakura wasn't able to get stronger. She needed someone to teach her but her parents were civilians and her sensei paid more attention to Naruto and Sasuke than her.

"I can probably help you out." Naruto said slowly. He was the only one that he knew of that could train her and she desperately needed training.

"You can? Really?!" Sakura asked in excitement, looking at him with her eyes still watery. Naruto nodded in reply. "Can I train with you and Sasuke?" Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"Our type of training would not work with you. I have to teach you separately." He told her. Her excitement diminished.

"Why?" She asked dejectedly.

"Sasuke's natural abilities allow for him to excel in ninjutsu and taijutsu. You have excellent chakra control, so I think your focus should be medical ninjutsu and genjutsu." Naruto told her thoughtfully. Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"You really think I could be good at those?" She asked. She had never even thought about doing any other type of jutsu before. She supposed it was because all Team 7 ever worked on was ninjutsu and taijutsu, so she thought that was what she was supposed to be doing. Naruto nodded. "But…are they really useful? They seem more defensive. We didn't even learn any of those in the Academy and I don't know anyone that does medical ninjutsu besides the nurses in the hospital and I only know of Kurenai-sensei as a genjutsu user." She said, unsure.

"They _are_ more defensive, but you could use them offensively too. And our team is not very well rounded the way it is. Think about the other teams compared to ours. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but each of the other teammates pick-up where one lacks. Sasuke and I are the powerhouses and Kakashi was trying to train you to be one too. But there are ways to counteract straight ninjutsu and taijutsu and if that is all you know, even if you are masters in them." Naruto explained to her. Sakura was looking into her tea with a frown.

"You're right. We don't know anything but ninjutsu and taijutsu. The books that we read in the Academy said the same thing, that a team full of just those two jutsus could easily be overtaken." Sakura said thoughtfully.

"I will say though, that they seem to do that on purpose; having teams that are trained for specific uses, like the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame team. Their skills allow for them to be a great tracking team. But they still have different abilities themselves that allow for great teamwork. For example, the Aburame is a long-range fighter with his kikaichū, the Inuzuka is a mid-range fighter, and the Hyūga is a close-range one. The Ino-Shika-Chō team is excellent for reconnaissance. Shikamaru can hold enemies with his shadows while the Yamanaka enters their mind and gathers information and the Akimichi covers their back, allowing them time to gather necessary information. Our team is made to be the powerhouse team; the one that is sent out to mess up the enemy, but so far, we use only ninjutsu and taijutsu. That's why, if you were to be a medical ninjutsu and genjutsu user, you would round out the team. Not only that, you would be the most essential part of it, giving Sasuke and I much needed support." Naruto didn't understand why he had to spell it out for her. He thought she would understand how important she would be to the team if she learned the proper jutsu for her specific skill set. But he supposed that she was never told the importance of a well-rounded team. Naruto, himself, was a well-rounded jutsu user, knowing many different types of jutsu, but he wasn't going to do all the work for the team.

"We could easily be the strongest team then." Sakura said in awe, eyes wide. Suddenly, all hesitation left her face, and a look of determination took its place. "Please teach me in medical ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"There are only three days left until the chūnin exams. I am going to have to really push you for you to be prepared by that time, you understand?" Naruto asked seriously. Sakura just nodded her head, the same determination in her eyes. "Very well. I want you to gather as many anatomy and medical books as possible and start reading them immediately. I will be quizzing you throughout our training, so be prepared. I can only teach you so much before you understand the physiology of the body. Let us begin."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Naruto woke up the day of the chūnin exams feeling calm and prepared. He and his team were ready for whatever attack Orochimaru had planned. He had clones train ceaselessly with Sasuke and Sakura, while he had trained in the forest with more of his clones. Kakashi had been put on high-alert, due to the warning Naruto had given the Hokage, and had allowed Naruto to take over training the team in his stead. He would occasionally appear where a clone was training one of his other team members and watch for a bit, sometimes making comments or corrections. His help was appreciated when he was training Sakura in genjutsu, because Naruto was still not that great at it, though helping Sakura was helping him with it as well.

He got dressed and left his apartment, finding Sasuke and Sakura waiting for him downstairs. At some point, Sasuke, Sakura, and even Kakashi had all agreed that Naruto was the unofficial leader of their team without consulting him, but it didn't bother him so much.

They began walking towards the building housing the first part of their exams. Naruto had spied on some lower level jōnin and found out that the exam would be in three parts and told his team, so that they would be prepared. Halfway to the building, they found Kakashi waiting for them. He gave them a proud smile while accompanying them the rest of the way there and into the building.

"All of the Rookie 9 will be partaking in this exam, but don't let that affect your feelings if you have to fight them. Just give it all you've got. Make me proud, kids." Kakashi told them, after escorting them as far as he could. Sasuke and Sakura gave him a confident nod, while Naruto shared a look with Kakashi, silently telling him he would keep an eye out on the other contestants, and they walked the rest of the way down the hallway towards the room they were supposed to go to.

Once they reached the second floor, they found a crowd of people waiting outside the door to a room. Naruto frowned and moved forward into the crowd to see what was happening, Sasuke and Sakura following behind him. There they found two Konoha shinobi blocking the doorway, which had the number 301 on it, knocking back any shinobi that tried to pass. Naruto lifted his eyebrow and gave a look to Sasuke and Sakura, who both noticed the genjutsu around the number. They looked back at him, silently letting him take the lead. Naruto just shrugged and lead his team past the crowd towards the stairs to get to the third floor, where the real Room 301 was. He didn't see any real threat there. And he figured that the two chūnin that were disguising themselves as genin and messing with the others were just there to look out for potential threats.

"Hey! You're one of the rookie teams! Where do you think you're going?" A girl with dark brown hair pulled into two buns and a Konoha hitai-ate yelled at them. Team 7 turned around to look at her and saw that everyone there was now looking at them.

"To the third floor, where we're supposed to go." Sakura answered for them. They turned back around and continued walking. As the crowd left to follow Team 7, the Konoha guards at the door looked at each other.

"So that was Kakashi's rookie team. He seems to have done well, for his first team." One said to the other.

"This should be interesting." The other agreed.

As Naruto lead his team to the stairs, he felt eyes on his back. He turned around to look at the balcony that was above him and his team. There, he saw a male with black hair cut into a bowl shape with large eyebrows, wearing a green spandex body suit. Naruto quickly turned away from what he saw. 'That guy cannot be serious. He looks completely out of his mind and I don't feel any chakra coming from him.' He heard the green-glad man jump down from the balcony.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! Fight me!" The male yelled while pointing at them. Naruto got an overwhelming sense of deja-vu, as if it was his clone from the Academy behind him. Naruto gave Sakura a look. They had agreed that Sakura do the talking for them, since Naruto and Sasuke didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Fighting outside of the exams is not allowed. It would disqualify both our teams." Sakura told the strange male. The same girl with the buns came up next to him and punched him in the head.

"Don't go off on your own, Lee! And stop trying to fight everyone before the exams even start!" She yelled at him. The other male next to her scoffed haughtily at them. Naruto recognized the second male as a member of the Hyūga Clan from his eyes. Naruto turned around again and started leading his team once again towards the stairs.

"Stop ignoring us!" Lee and the bun-haired girl yelled at them. Team 7 continued walking without looking back.

"Hey, what are your names?" The Hyūga male asked them. Naruto glanced at Sakura.

"It's impolite to ask others their name before giving their own." Sakura replied, facing the other team while Naruto and Sasuke stopped to wait for her, but kept their back to them.

"Hyūga Neji." The Hyūga replied. Naruto frowned. He had heard about that one.

"Rock Lee!" The green-clad one said excitedly.

"Tenten." The bun-haired girl said.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, that's Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura said, pointing to each while naming them. Naruto and Sasuke started walking again after the introductions, Sakura turning around and following.

"What is up with them? They're just baby genin and they act like that. It pisses me off!" Tenten yelled angrily.

"Haruno Sakura…" Lee said, watching her walk away in infatuation. Neji looked at his team in annoyance, then back at the retreating backs of Team 7.

'They are an interesting team. I look forward to seeing what they can do.' Neji thought to himself.

Once Naruto and his team reached the real doors to Room 301, he could feel the chakra signatures of dozens of shinobi inside. A shiver of excitement ran down his spine and he smirked almost evilly at his team, with Sasuke responding with his with own excited smirk, and Sakura just smiling confidently. They opened the door to find all eyes in the room on them.

Naruto ignored everyone, keeping the bored look on his face that he had reverted to once the doors started opening, and lead his team towards where Shikamaru and his team were waiting. Keeping his eyes open for potential threats.

"Yo." Shikamaru said with a smile, raising a hand in greeting. Naruto nodded back his own greeting. He and Shikamaru had been spending many evenings in each other's company, either playing shōgi or watching the clouds, and on rare occasions going out to dinner with Shikamaru's team. Naruto was surprised at how well the two of them got along. Shikamaru also wasn't angry when Naruto told him about modifying the Nara Clan's signature jutsu. He was more intrigued and asked him many questions about it. Sakura moved to stand near Ino and they began arguing, with Ino sending glances and flipping her hair at Sasuke, who stood quietly next to Naruto, waiting for the exam to begin. Naruto gave a nod of greeting to Chōji as well.

All of a sudden, Naruto picked up on a chakra signature that was very similar to his own. He also felt the Kyūbi perk up in interest. He looked over to the chakra source and saw a pale male with reddish-brown hair, dark shadows around his turquoise eyes, and the kanji for love on his forehead above his left eye. Naruto noted that he was wearing a Sunagakure hitai-ate. He seemed to sense Naruto looking at him, because he looked towards him. Naruto narrowed his eyes while the other gave him a look full of hate, also narrowing his eyes. So that was what Orochimaru had in mind: sending the jinchūriki from Suna. Naruto saw the other's teammates look at him in confusion, before he heard someone calling to him.

"So we're all here then. It's been a while sense we've been together like this! I see you even changed your outfit for the occasion too, Naruto." Naruto shifted his eyes to see three other Konoha shinobi walking towards them. Naruto could tell right away that they were the last members of the Rookie 9, from the blushing Hyūga girl's eyes, the dog next to the smirking male that spoke, and the muted humming of kikaichū coming from within the last male. Naruto just shrugged in response, earning a confused look from the Hyūga girl and the Inuzuka's mouth to drop in surprise. He couldn't see the Aburame's reaction due to his sunglasses and collar, but he was probably surprised as well.

"What happened to you?!" Kiba, Naruto remembered his name being, asked loudly. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders again.

"My, you guys are attracting a lot of attention." A male voice warned. The group turned to see a male with light grey hair pulled back into a low ponytail wearing glasses and a Konoha hitai-ate walking towards them. Naruto kept his face blank, though he wanted to narrow his eyes. This new male had a scent of snakes around him and something about him was off, causing Naruto to feel cautious. From one of his few talks with Anko (whom would sometimes come and visit or spar with him when he was training in the forest), she had told him that Orochimaru had an obsession with snakes. "You guys are awfully noisy for rookies."

"And just who are you?" Ino asked with a huff.

"Me? I'm Yakushi Kabuto, but I don't think I'm the one you should be worried about." Kabuto replied, gesturing towards a few of the other contestants, who were glaring at them angrily. "You should probably calm down, before you start something. Especially since you're just rookies and a lot of these shinobi have gone through this exam multiple times. Myself included." Naruto noted that this Kabuto didn't seem bothered by having to retake the test.

"So you must know all about these exams then." Sakura commented.

"Yes, especially with these." Kabuto replied, taking out some cards from the pouch on his hip. "These are nin-info cards." He told them, in response to the questioning look some of the Rookie 9 gave him. He placed the cards on the ground and took one out of the pile to show them what was on them. While he was distracted, Naruto quickly grabbed a few of the cards without anyone noticing and putting them in his pocket, to look over later and perhaps give to Kakashi to take to the Hokage. Naruto was told to just keep an eye out, not actually involve himself with the invasion, but he had wanted to do his own internal investigation, which Shikamaru had offered his assistance in when Naruto had told him about it, after grumbling for a while.

While Kabuto was showing the rest of the Rookie 9 what was on the cards, Naruto was looking around the room. Taking note of all the Oto and Suna nin that were there. It looked like there was only one team from Oto, but Suna had ten teams. The Oto team was probably only there to keep an eye on things.

After Kabuto put his cards away, giving them a strange look first, there was a bang and the examiners appeared in a poof of smoke. The tall and muscular male in front of the group wearing a black trench coat, with scars on his face, and a bandanna hitai-ate that covered his head introduced himself as Morino Ibiki. Naruto's eyes shot to Shikamaru's, noticing the surprise in his. They were apparently taking this invasion very seriously, for the head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Unit to be an examiner.

"Everybody come up and take a number. That number will decide where you sit. Once everyone is seated, we will begin the first test." Ibiki said. Naruto noticed that a male Konoha shinobi next to Ibiki had papers in his hand. He had already known that the first test was going to be a written one and had told Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru. Once everyone had taken their seats, Naruto noticed he was next to the Hyūga girl.

"Good…good luck, Naruto-kun." Hinata told him timidly, with a blush on her checks. Naruto contemplated ignoring her, but she seemed nice enough and she was a Konoha shinobi, albeit a weak looking one, for the daughter of the Head of the Hyūga Clan. He figured that being friendly with the head of the clan's daughter couldn't hurt for his political moves in the future.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan. Good luck to you too." He told her. She blushed and looked away quickly. Naruto furrowed his brows.

'What was that about?' He thought to himself, looking back to the front of the room where Ibiki was standing, going over the rules while writing them on the board. 'So the point of this test is to cheat? Are the questions really that hard? They probably added some examiners posing as contestants to copy off of then.' Naruto knew that his team would have no problem answering the questions. He also knew that Shikamaru would have gotten off his ass and studied so that he could move on, but he hoped the other two on his team would pass. He figured Shikamaru had told his other teammates about the test and had them study as well. Once Ibiki had told them they had an hour to complete the test, he told them to begin.

Naruto flipped over the paper and looked at the test before doing anything. The questions were fairly difficult but due to his extensive knowledge from reading and training, he knew the answers to all the questions. He wrote his name at the top then in the top right corner of the page he created a small fūin, which would make any answer he wrote on his test seem as if he was just scribbling on it instead of writing in answers, and proceeded to answer the questions. He could feel Hinata glancing at him curiously from time to time and wondered if she would get caught by the examiners thinking she was copying off him. He completed the test in five minutes, turning it over and sitting back. He saw Ibiki looking at him, since he was apparently the first to finish the test. Naruto looked him in the eyes and smirked. Ibiki looked blankly back, before giving him a smirk of his own.

Naruto watched as teams were eliminated the closer the hour came to a close. Once 45 minutes passed, Ibiki told the contestants that it was time for the tenth question. So far, thirteen teams had been eliminated for cheating. He explained the rules of the tenth question and told anyone who didn't want to answer the final question to leave. Naruto frowned. He hadn't heard about this specific part of the test. He figured it was probably something Ibiki had made up on the fly, just adding it before the test actually started. He continued sitting back, relaxed, with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the last question. He was actually surprised at how many teams were leaving. With only five minutes left in the test, fourteen teams remained. Once the time was up Ibiki gave a sadistic grin.

"You all pass!" He told them. Naruto raised an eyebrow, while many of the other genin yelled out in confusion and anger. Naruto looked to Shikamaru, who met his eyes. Naruto smirked while Shikamaru rolled his eyes at each, other silently saying 'how like Head of T&I, messing with everyone's heads'.

All of a sudden, Naruto felt a familiar chakra signature coming towards them quickly from the left of the building. Just as he was raising his eyebrow in question, a blur came crashing through the building. Naruto's face went blank, as Anko appeared before the genin, with a banner behind her that he assumed said "Test #2, led by Examiner Mitarashi Anko" but her body was completely blocking the words, so he couldn't make them out for sure and introducing herself loudly, telling them to follow her. Naruto gave her a deadpanned look when she looked at him with a massive grin.

"Wow, only fourteen of you. That test must have been a good one, Ibiki. But my test will knock them down by at least half." She said, shaking in excitement.

While the rest of the genin left with Anko, Ibiki collected the tests. Once he got to Naruto's he turned it over and looked at it in confusion. Then he looked at the top of the paper and saw the fūin. His eyes widened in surprise, before he released the seal and the correct answers to all the questions appeared before him.

'That Uzumaki Naruto, he's one to look out for.' Ibiki thought with a smile, being one of the only people besides the Hokage and Kakashi to know that Naruto had been the one to supply the intel about the Suna invasion.

* * *

**I know it may seem a bit far fetched for Naruto to be able to answer all the questions easily on the test, but again, it is because of his knowledge and experience. Think of it like how Sakura answered the questions in Canon. She knew the answers from reading and training, so I am having Naruto be the same way, just a little quicker because he spent so many years doing it. **


End file.
